PAOCC execs don't believe Alice Guo received death threats

Officials of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) on Friday said they do not believe that dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo received death threats when she was still in the Philippines.

"Ang babaeng ito at ang pamilya nila ay namuhay sa isang buhay ng kasinungalingan, so I will never believe anything that comes out of their mouths again, unless may ebidensya," PAOCC spokesperson Dr. Winston Casio said.

(This woman and her family have been living a life of lies, so I will never believe anything that comes out of their mouths again, unless there's evidence.)

At a press conference following their arrival from Indonesia early Friday morning, Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos said Guo told him that she fled the Philippines because she feared for her life.

In a video posted on Abalos' Facebook account of his meeting with Guo in Jakarta on Thursday afternoon, the dismissed mayor was heard saying, "Sec, patulong. May death threat po kasi ako (Sec, help me. There's a death threat against me)."

Earlier, lawyer Stephen David, Guo's legal counsel, said death threats were the reason why Guo did not surrender to authorities when she was still in the country.

Guo had disappeared from the public eye after attending Senate hearings in May into her alleged involvement in the raided POGO hub in her locality. This prompted the Senate to issue an arrest order against her.

Last August, Senator Risa Hontiveros revealed information that Guo left the country in July despite being on an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order.

Spilling the beans

For his part, PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said that he could not fathom who would threaten Guo if she had not divulged the identities of her alleged co-conspirators in the operations of the raided Bamban POGO hub.

"Tingin ko naman magkaka-death threat siya kung ilalalag niya 'yung mga kasamahan niya sa sindikato o 'yung mga kasamahan niya sa pagpapatakbo ng illegal na POGO na 'yan," Cruz said.

(I think she'll receive death threats if she reveals the identities of her syndicate members or her partners in operating that illegal POGO.)

"Ngayon kung hindi naman niya ilalaglag 'yun, hindi ko maisip kung saan nanggaling 'yung death threat na 'yan," he added.

(If she doesn't reveal the information, I can't fathom where that death threat came from.)

Obviously hiding

Cruz said that if Guo really wanted to surrender, she should have done it immediately.

"Kung ninais niyang sumuko dapat una pa lang, ano? Hindi na siya dapat nagtago dahil may mga hearings siya na hindi inatendan. Lalo na 'yung mga Senate hearings niya, hindi niya pinuntahan," Cruz said.

(If she wanted to surrender, she should have done so from the start, right? She shouldn't have gone into hiding because she had hearings she didn't attend. Especially the Senate hearings, she didn't show up.)

He also pointed out that Guo changed her appearance.

Guo's hair, which previously reached the middle of her back, had been cut to shoulder length. Its color was also changed from black to brown.

"Tapos nagtanggal siya ng salamin. 'Yung mga signature na damit na sinusuot niya before hindi na niya ginagawa 'yan. So maraming binago sa kanya para hindi siya makilala, so obviously talagang nagtatago siya," he said.

(Then she stopped wearing her glasses. The signature clothes she used to wear before, she no longer wore them. So many things about her were changed to avoid recognition, so it's obvious she was really hiding.)

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime Santiago had also said Guo took steps to conceal her identity.

Guo was nabbed by Indonesian authorities in Tangerang City early Wednesday morning. She was brought back to the country early Friday morning. — VDV, GMA Integrated News