Escudero: PH authorities must check spy allegations vs. Alice Guo

Law enforcement agencies should pursue the self-proclaimed Chinese spy She Zhijiang's testimony on former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo being an agent of the China Ministry of State Security (MSS), Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero said on Thursday.

Escudero said there was a need to weigh and verify the information that She revealed in an Al Jazeera documentary.

"Isa 'yun sa dapat i-pursue ng authorities. Hindi na siguro trabaho ng Senado pa 'yan na magpatawag o magpadala ng team doon," Escudero said.

(That should be pursued by the authorities but it's no longer the Senate's job to summon or send a team there.)

"Ang basehan natin ay isa lamang namang statement na sinabi ng isang dayuhan din sa ibang bansa pa at ni hindi dito mismo sa loob ng Pilipinas at wala tayong pagkakataon na ma-cross examine at timbangin ang kanyang pahayag," said Escudero, a lawyer.

"Kung ito ba ay malayang naibigay at hindi pinilit at 'yung mga documentary evidence, napanood lang din naman natin sa media at wala tayong actual na kopya," he pointed out.

(Our basis is merely a statement made by a foreigner in a different country and not even one made within the Philippines itself. We don't have the opportunity to cross-examine or weigh his testimony if it was freely given not coerced. And the documentary evidence, we've only seen it in the media, and we don't have actual copies.)

During the continuation of the Senate investigation into illegal POGOs which centered on Guo's alleged involvement, Senator Risa Hontiveros said her office tried to get in touch with She who is currently detained in Thailand.

However, their request was not granted "for diplomatic reasons."

Lawyer Amer Tago, the acting director of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs, said the Senate's request to interview She may be coursed through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.

Tago said the DFA would coordinate with the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok.

Similarly, the Department of Justice said it would execute all efforts to get the witness' cooperation.

She was featured in a documentary of the international news channel Al Jazeera, where he claimed that he and dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo dedicated their lives to China's Ministry of State Security.

Guo, for her part, has denied knowing or having any connection with She.

Her camp also said that it was looking into the possible filing of a case against Al Jazeera for the "malicious insinuation."

Guo is facing a qualified human trafficking case before a Pasig court and a graft case before a Valenzuela court.

She is also facing a tax evasion complaint, 87 counts of money laundering, and a perjury and falsification complaint before the Department of Justice. —NB, GMA Integrated News