NBI reports 'sightings' of Alice Guo in Bulacan before Senate issuance of arrest order

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Monday told the Senate that there were "sightings" of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo in Bulacan before the issuance of the arrest order against her.

NBI Assistant Director Angelito Magno made the statement during the resumption of the Senate investigation into the raided POGO hubs as Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada grilled the law enforcement agencies for failing to arrest Guo since the arrest order was issued two weeks ago.

"We were informed by our assets prior to the issuance of the warrant of arrest, there are some sightings in Bulacan. However, when the team went to the possible locations of the sightings-- as of now, malalaman po natin na wala naman pong nahuli or nakita po [we all know that there has been no arrest]," Magno said.

Estrada then threatened the NBI as well as the Philippine National Police of budget cuts should they fail to arrest Guo.

"If you cannot arrest her within a month, baka maapektuhan ang budget ninyo [your proposed budgets might be affected]," Estrada told Magno.

"Ganon din sa pulis 'yan. 'Pag 'di niyo nahanap within a month 'yan [The same goes with the police ... if you cannot locate her within a month]. We cannot just keep on waiting here. Mahihina ang intelligence ninyo 'pagka ganon [you have poor intelligence]," the Senate president pro tempore said.

He went on and said that the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms can only do so much and that the NBI and the PNP have the resources to conduct arrests.

"Ang dami-daming mga nase-serve na warrant of arrest d'yan. Ang bibilis mahuli. Bakit ito kilalang kilala pa hindi niyo mahuli? [There are a lot of arrest warrants being served with swift arrests. Why is it that this one who is well-known cannot be arrested fast]. You better get your acts together," Estrada said.

"Kailangan may proper coordination kayo. All our law enforcement agencies. 'Yung sa amin, on the part of the Senate, 'yung OSAA namin we can do so much hindi naman sila kasing powerful ninyo na lahat ng resources nasa inyo," he emphasized.

[There should be coordination. All our law enforcement agencies. On the part of the Senate, the OSAA can only do so so much, they are not as powerful and don't have much resources as you.]

Magno, responding to Estrada, said the NBI will do their best to arrest Guo.

According to Magno, the arrest order has already been cascaded to NBI regional and district offices.

"As of now, our teams and most of our agents are doing their best to locate and serve the warrant of arrest of this honorable committee," he said.

TIMELINE: The plots and twists of the 'Alice Guo' probe

The NBI Cybercrime Group is also exerting efforts to locate the IP address of Guo after she recently posted statements on her Facebook pages.

For PNP's part, Police Colonel Jun Mark Lagare, chief of staff of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said they already designated a tracker team in their regional field units to look for Guo.

The PNP has yet to provide the Senate committee updates on possible leads for Guo's arrest.

At the early part of the hearing, the Bureau of Immigration told the senators that Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping is still in the Philippines as of this morning.

"Based po sa record namin kaninang umaga, nandito pa po si Alice Guo at si Guo Hua Ping," BI Prosecution and Legal Assistance Section head Homer Arellano said.

[Based on our record this morning, Alice Guo/Guo Hua Ping is still in the country.]

The National Bureau of Investigation earlier confirmed that Chinese national Guo Hua Ping and Mayor Alice Guo's fingerprints are identical.

The Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality is investigating Guo's supposed involvement in the illegal POGO hub that was raided in her own town.

Guo's citizenship is also being questioned due to her inconsistent testimonies about her background and the supposed dubious documents regarding her Filipino citizenship. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News