No intent to hide Alice Guo’s departure, Immigration spox says

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday denied insinuations that it intended to hide that dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo left the country, adding that it only received information on her departure this month.

At the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon, Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval was asked about a senator supposedly insinuating that some government agencies had information that Guo left the country but remained quiet about it.

“There was no intent po to hide the information. Actually, natanggap lang po natin ‘yung information na ‘yun… nung nakaraang linggo. The week before last week,” Sandoval said.

(There was no intention to hide the information. We actually received that information just the other week. The week before last week.)

Last week, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said that some government agencies may have conspired with one another to conceal the escape of Guo despite an Immigration Lookout Bulletin (ILBO) being issued against her.

An ILBO instructs Immigration officers to alert authorities should the subjects attempt to leave the country.

Gatchalian, however, did not name any agencies.

Tickets back to the Philippines

At the BPN forum, Sandoval said that Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco was in Vietnam for an ASEAN meeting when he received information that Guo’s group had tickets back to the Philippines from Singapore.

According to her, this led them to question and investigate why Guo had a return ticket when their records showed that she was still within the country.

Sandoval said they received confirmation that Guo arrived in Malaysia and Singapore.

“Very conflicting po ‘yung mga information na natanggap ng ating ahensya kaya minarapat po muna ng ating liderato from other reliable sources itong mga impormasyon na ito,” Sandoval said.

(The information received by our agency is quite conflicting, so our leadership deemed it necessary to verify this information from other reliable sources first.)

Illegal means

Sandoval also reiterated that they believe Guo’s group did not undergo proper Immigration inspection when they left the country.

She said this was proven as Shiela Guo’s passport had no Immigration markings.

“At nakikita po natin na maaring ito rin po ang ginawang modus nitong si dating Mayor Alice Guo. Mukha pong they used illegal means para po makalabas po ng bansa,” the spokesperson said.

(We see that this might also be the modus operandi of former Mayor Alice Guo. Apparently, they resorted to illegal means to leave the country.)

“Maaring inabuso po nila ‘yung mga areas kung saan wala pong Immigration presence to be able to circumvent proper Immigration inspection,” she added.

(They might have exploited areas where there was no Immigration presence, allowing them to circumvent proper Immigration inspection.)

On August 20, the Bureau of Immigration confirmed that Guo, whose real name is Guo Hua Ping, is in Indonesia amid the complaints filed against her, including for alleged human trafficking.

Government agencies discovered that Guo already left the Philippines for Malaysia as early as July 18.

Still in Indonesia

Over the weekend, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) spokesperson Dr. Winston Casio said that Guo may attempt to get into the Golden Triangle. 

Casio was referring to the Golden Triangle region in mainland Southeast Asia, located on the intersecting borders of Mekong River countries Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar.

Sandoval, however, said that Guo has made no attempts to cross the border.

“Doon po sa ating coordination with our counterparts, Indonesian Immigration, wala pa pong attempts si Mayor Alice Guo na mag tawid border muli mula po nung huli niyang pasok nung August 18,” Sandoval said.

(Through our coordination with our counterparts, the Indonesian Immigration, Mayor Alice Guo has made no attempts to cross the border since her last entry on August 18.)

Meanwhile, in an interview on Unang Balita, Casio said they received information that Wesley Guo, the former mayor’s brother, attempted to fly to Hong Kong.

However, he said that they are still waiting on confirmation from authorities in Hong Kong regarding this.

“Sumubok po itong lumipad papuntang Hong Kong. So inaalam pa po natin sa counterparts natin sa [Special] Administrative Region of Hong Kong kung nakalipad nga po siya at nakapasok doon sa kanilang territory,” Casio said.

(He attempted to fly to Hong Kong. So, we are still verifying with our counterparts in the Hong Kong [Special] Administrative Region if he was able to fly and enter their territory.) — RSJ, GMA Integrated News