Alice Guo sent surrender feelers while in Indonesia —BI official

Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo sent surrender feelers while she was in Indonesia, an official of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Saturday.

Guo confirmed this when BI Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) chief Rendel Ryan Sy talked to her in Indonesia after authorities turned her over to them.

"Nu'ng nakakuha ako ng pagkakataon na makausap siya, may mga tinanong din ako sa kanya kasi may mga gusto rin tayong malaman, 'yun nga, sinabi niya na masaya raw siya na nasa kamay na natin. Kasi actually gusto na raw niya talagang sumuko sa amin," Sy said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

(When I had the opportunity to talk to her, I asked her some questions because there were things we wanted to know. She said she was happy that she is in our hands already because actually she wanted really to surrender to us.)

"Well actually nu'ng nasa Jakarta ako, dalawang linggo na, may kumontak din po sa atin na sinasabi nga na gusto niyang sumuko, ni Alice, although naputol po 'yung pag-uusap namin kasi hindi ko alam kung ano na ang nangyari after that," he said.

(Well actually when I was in Jakarta for two weeks, someone contacted us and said Alice wanted to surrender, although our communication was cut and I did not know what happened after that.)

Asked to confirm if Guo sent surrender feelers, Sy said: "Yes po. May mga ganu'n po at vinalidate ko din naman po sa kanya 'yon."

(Yes. There were [feelers] and I validated those with her.)

"At sinabi niya na 'yung kausap ko nga daw po ay kausap niya nga din," he added.

(And she said the person I talked with was also the person she talked to.)

Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos, one of the officials who fetched Guo in Indonesia, said he was not aware of it.

''I don't know anything about it. Ang importante ay nahuli si Alice at naibalik natin sa Pilipinas (What is important is that Alice was arrested, and we're able to bring her back to the Philippines),'' Abalos said in a message to GMA News Online.

GMA News Online has requested comment from Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Guo's legal counsel Stephen David regarding the matter.

Earlier, David 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 July.

Abalos said Guo fled the country because she feared for her life.

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) however on Friday said they do not believe that Guo received death threats when she was still in the Philippines.

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.

Guo was arrested in Indonesia on Wednesday by Indonesian police, the PAOCC earlier said.

She was nabbed in a townhouse in Tangerang City before dawn that day.

Guo was turned over by Indonesian authorities to Philippine officials led by Abalos and Philippine National Police chief Police General Rommel Marbil on Thursday afternoon.

The dismissed mayor was then brought back to the Philippines early Friday.

Guo is facing a total of 87 counts of money laundering, along with a human trafficking complaint in connection to the raided POGO hub in Bamban.

A Tarlac court also issued an arrest warrant for her in connection with a graft case. 

A quo warranto petition has also been filed against Guo before a Manila court as well as a petition to cancel her birth certificate before a Tarlac court.

Hunt for Wesley Guo, other charges vs Alice

Sy said manhunt operations for Wesley Guo, said to be the brother of Alice, is ongoing.

Wesley was also ordered arrested by the Senate earlier.

"Sinusubukan pa natin hanapin kung nasaan si Wesley (Guo)," he said.

(We are still trying to find Wesley.)

"Although, based sa information natin, nauna na siyang umalis from Batam at nasa Hong Kong na daw," Sy added.

(Although, based on our information, Wesley left Batam earlier and is reportedly already in Hong Kong.)

Sy also said the BI is studying other possible charges that may be filed against Alice Guo.

"Bukod sa misrepresentation ay pag-aaralan din ng Bureau of Immigration kung ano po 'yung ibang kaso na puwedeng isampa sa kanya," he said.

(Aside from misrepresentation, the Bureau of Immigration is studying what other charges may possibly be filed against her.)

"Ngunit ito nga po ay for deportation kaya hihintayin po natin 'yung ibang mga criminal case niya bago po ito isampa," Sy said.

(But she is for deportation so we will wait for the other criminal cases before it [deportation] can be filed.) —with a report from Sherylin Untalan/KG/VBL, GMA Integrated News