Hontiveros: DFA reported Alice Guo passport to Interpol

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday disclosed that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has already reported the passports of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and her other relatives to the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime or the country's national central bureau of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

Hontiveros disclosed this during the Kapihan sa Senado forum as she welcomed the order of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin for the DFA and the Department of Justice to cancel Guo's passport.

"I have information from them (DFA), in fact, 'yung Philippine passports ni Guo Hua Ping o Alice Leal Guo kasama na nina Sheila Leal Guo, Wesley Leal Guo at Katherine Cassandra Li Ong ay in fact ni-report na nila sa Philippine Center for Transnational Crime-Interpol para sa appropriate action nila. So, itinaas na rin po hanggang sa level ng Interpol," Hontiveros said.

The senator also disclosed that the DFA wrote to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) last June 26 and July 9 to establish that Mayor Alice Guo misdeclared her identity and citizenship in her passport applications.

Further, the DFA also requested to crossmatch their biometrics records of Guo with that in the NBI and the BI so they can use it as "evidence to establish the fraudulent identity" of the dismissed mayor, Hontiveros said.

The Office of Consular Affairs of the DFA likewise imposed a "precautionary measure" where Guo and her family were already included in the passport watchlist database.

"Ito ay upang mapigilan ang pag isyu ng bagong passport," she explained.

Last Monday, Hontiveros disclosed that Guo has already left the Philippines and arrived in Malaysia last July 18. She then flew to Singapore to meet her parents, her brother and Ong.

On Tuesday, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval divulged that Guo is currently in Indonesia.

The Immigration Bureau is now backtracking Guo's movements to determine the persons behind her travel, Sandoval said.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has since warned Immigration personnel who may have had a hand in the “escape” of Guo to come out and tell the truth or “heads will roll.”

Earlier in the day, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said an investigation is underway on the reported departure of the dismissed Bamban mayor and "heads will roll" as he noted that Guo's escape "laid bare corruption that undermines our justice system and erodes public trust."

Graft, POGO links

Guo has been linked to an illegal POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac raided by authorities. In June, the Department of the Interior and Local Government filed graft charges against her in this regard.

Her identity and citizenship were also questioned during Senate hearings on the illegal POGOs.

Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered her dismissal for grave misconduct.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue also filed a tax evasion complaint against Guo after she allegedly failed to settle P500,000 in taxes.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) meanwhile said it will continue its investigation against Guo despite her alleged departure from the country.

The Comelec earlier served a subpoena against Guo in relation to the material misrepresentation complaint filed against her. The dismissed mayor was given until August 14 to file her counter-affidavit. —VAL, GMA Integrated News