Ejercito says Alice Guo could get executive session if she divulges POGO ‘big boss’

Senate Deputy Majority Leader Joseph Victor Ejercito over the weekend said he would be in favor of an executive session with dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo if she discloses more information on the people behind the proliferation of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country.

“Kung sakaling sa executive session, siguro ibigay natin para malaman natin, para maituro kung sino talaga ang mga big boss sa likuran ng mga ilegal na POGO,” Ejercito said in an interview on GMA Super Radyo dzBB, according to a report by Vonne Aquino on “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

(For the executive session, maybe we can grant it to know, to pinpoint the big bosses behind the illegal POGOs.)

Ejercito said he is also keen on knowing who helped Guo run for office, which would give way for the government to find out how supposed Chinese nationals were able to take up elected spots in the Philippines.

“Baka mamaya talagang pain siya… Marami na ring Chinese nationals ako na alam na sa ibang lugar nakapwesto na [Maybe she is really bait… I already know a lot of Chinese nationals that are already seated in other areas],” he said in the same interview.

At least three senators last week rejected Guo’s appeal for an executive session, with Senator Risa Hontiveros—who leads the Senate probe—saying that Guo must tell the public the truth before a closed session is granted.

The Senate is scheduled to hold a hearing on Tuesday, September 17, which would be Guo’s second since her arrest in Indonesia on September 4. She was deported back to the Philippines on September 6.

To recall, the Senate issued an arrest order against her on July 13 for repeatedly failing to attend its investigation into the raided POGO hub in her town.

She is also facing a total of 87 counts of money laundering, along with a human trafficking complaint in connection to the raid.

The Tarlac Regional Trial Court Branch 109 also earlier issued an arrest warrant for Guo in connection with a graft case. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA Integrated News