AMLC: Alice Guo wrote 'Wen Yi Lin Leal' as ma's name in bank account

Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo has indicated “Wen Yi Lin Leal” as her mother’s maiden name in opening one of her bank accounts, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) told a Senate inquiry on Wednesday.

At the continuation of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality’s investigation into the raided POGO hub in Bamban, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian asked the AMLC about the names Guo used in opening her bank accounts. 

According to AMLC Investigation and Enforcement Department Director Emmett Manantan, the records showed that Guo used “several variations” as regards her mother’s maiden name. 

Manantan mentioned six different names, one of which was "Wen Yi Lin Leal."

“Opo, senator. Nakalagay po Wen Yi Lin Leal,” Manantan said. 

(Yes, senator. Wen Yi Lin Leal was indicated.)

This prompted Gatchalian to say that Guo voluntarily declared Wen Yi Lin as her mother even before the Senate investigation started. 

“So in other words, nu’ng binuksan niya yung account niya, voluntarily sinulat niya na yung kanyang mother’s maiden name is Wen Yi Lin, may Leal lang. Pero alam naman natin Leal eh kathang-isip lang naman 'yon, parang imagination lang 'yon, ‘di ba?” Gatchalian said.

“Voluntarily, sinusulat niya ang nanay niya ay Wen Yi Lin, pareho do'n sa BOI (Board of Investments) documents,” he added.

(When she opened her account, she voluntarily wrote that her mother's name was Wen Yi Lin, only in this case, Leal was added. But we all know that Leal was just made up, like a figment of imagination. Voluntarily, she wrote that her mother was Wen Yi Lin, just like in the BOI documents.)

Gatchalian earlier presented records from the Board of Investments of the Guo family's application for a Special Investors Resident Visa (SIRV).

The documents showed Guo Hua Ping, whom he suspects is the real Alice Guo, entered the Philippines on January 12, 2003, when she was still 13 years old. 

Gatchalian also revealed that Guo Hua Ping's registered mother for their SIRV is Lin Wen Yi, whom he earlier suspected was Guo's real mother and not Alice Leal Guo.

Guo had told the Senate inquiry that he was the lovechild of her father and Alice Leal, a member of the household who has since left.

She has refuted allegations that her real mother was Chinese citizen Wen Yi Lin.

"May mga nagsasabing si Lin Wen Yi ang tunay kong ina. Siya po ay kasama sa mga kumpanya ng aming pamilya, ngunit si Amelia Leal ang aking ina sa lahat ng dokumento," Guo said in her letter of explanation submitted by her lawyer to the office of Senator Risa Hontiveros.

"Hindi totoo ang paratang na si Amelia leal ay isang non-existing person. Si Lin Wen Yi ay kinakasama at isang business partner ng aking ama. Hindi siya ang aking Ina," the letter continued.

(There are those saying Lin Wen Yi is my real mother. She is included in my family’s companies, but it is Amelia Leal is my mother in all of the documents. The allegation that Amelia Leal is a non-existing person is not true. Lin Wen Yi is a companion and a business partner of my father. She is not my mother.) —NB, GMA Integrated News