Senators to Alice Guo: Tell public the truth before asking for executive session

At least three senators on Tuesday rejected the appeal of former mayor Alice Guo's camp for an executive session to discreetly disclose information relevant to the Senate's investigation into her alleged ties to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).

Senator Risa Hontiveros, who leads the Senate probe, said Guo must tell the public the truth before they grant her request for a closed session with the senators.

"Our Committee has not seen any reason to believe that Guo Hua Ping will provide us with factual, valuable, and reliable information to convince us to agree to an executive session," Hontiveros said.

The chairperson of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, which is investigating Guo and her alleged POGO links, noted that the dismissed mayor "cannot even admit that she is a Chinese national and she was born in China" despite the pieces of evidence presented before her.

"If she cannot even tell the truth about her identity, why should we believe everything else that comes out of her mouth?" Hontiveros said, adding that, "Magpakatotoo siya sa susunod na pagdinig, at baka sakali maniwala kaming magpapakatotoo din siya sa isang executive session (She should come clean at the next hearing. If she does, we might believe that she'll speak the truth in an executive session.)

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada echoed the same position that Guo has not given them "any compelling reason, especially matters concerning national security, to grant her an executive session."

"Paano namin siya pagbibigyan kung wala naman siyang isinisiwalat? Wala nga kaming napipiga sa kanya, gusto pa niya ng executive session?" Estrada said.

(How can we grant her request if she isn't divulging anything? We were able to get anything from her, and now she wants an executive session?)

"What difference does it make if she discloses in an open session as against a proceeding conducted behind closed doors? Alice Guo testified falsely before us, telling us a tall tale about her circumstances and practically everything we asked her in the previous Senate hearings. What assurance that she will be open, truthful, and cooperative this time?" he went on.

For Estrada, he will only be convinced to conduct an executive session if Guo could provide concrete proof of the threats to her life.

"Allowing an executive session could undermine the principle of transparency and public accountability in Senate investigations and could foster perceptions of secrecy, worse, erode public trust in the process," he said.

"Alice Guo, who at one point was a public servant, owes the public the truth behind her flight, the truth behind her alleged misdeeds," Estrada said.

He added, "Karapatan ng publiko na malaman ang mga kawatan sa gobyerno na kasangkot niya at ng mga kasama niya para takasan ang isinasagawang imbestigasyon sa kanila."

(The public has a right to know the thieves in government and those who were in cahoots with her and helped her to escape the ongoing investigation into her deeds.)

In an ambush interview, Senator Joel Villanueva said Guo must convince the Senate that she will divulge valuable information that could aid the chamber's investigation on POGOs.

"They must convince us... Ma-convince dapat ako na merong bearing, mabigat yung babanggiting impormasyon (They must convince us... I must be convinced that the information she will share has bearing and weight)," he said.

In a television interview earlier today, Guo's legal counsel Stephen David said the senators "can get all the information that they want" from the dismissed mayor in an executive session. — VDV, GMA Integrated News