Shiela Guo, the supposed sister of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo on Tuesday said the latter wanted to leave the country because she was saddened by the Senate hearings into her alleged links to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming operations.
Shiela made the remarks before the Senate justice and human rights subcommittee when senators asked her further details about their departure from the Philippines around the first week of July.
According to Shiela, she was in Marilao, Bulacan before she went to the Guo farm in Bamban where Alice and their supposed brother Wesley were staying. Then for around five hours, Shiela said, they traveled to a port to ride boats to leave the Philippines.
“Nu’ng aalis na nu’ng gabi, alam mo kung saan pupunta (When you were leaving that night, did you know where you were going)?” Senator Joel Villanueva asked Shiela, to which the latter answered in the negative.
Villanueva then inquired if Shiela asked the reason why Alice wanted to be accompanied.
“Tatanong ko ang sabi niya sa akin, sabi ni ate, ‘Nalulungkot ako. Samahan mo ako. May pupuntahan ako,'” Shiela said.
(I asked her. Ate said, ‘I’m sad. Join me. I need to go somewhere.’)
“Bawal magtanong (Couldn’t you ask)?” Villanueva reiterated.
“Hindi naman sa bawal. Hindi [n]iya sinabi sa akin kung saan punta (It’s not that it wasn’t allowed. She didn’t tell me where we would go),” Shiela said.
Later in the hearing, Senator Grace Poe pressed Shiela to give more details.
“Hindi mo naman siya tinanong, ‘Bakit ka nalulungkot (So you didn’t ask her, ‘Why are you sad)?'” Poe asked.
Shiela responded, “Alam ko dahil sa hearing (As far as I know, it was because of the hearing).”
Not focused on the news
According to Shiela, she was not aware that the Senate was looking for Alice because the former has not been monitoring the news since her supposed sister’s first appearance at the Senate hearing.
“Simula sa first hearing niya, lahat ng news hindi ako focused. Hindi ko kaya (Since her first hearing, I didn’t focus on the news. I couldn’t take it),” Shiela said.
She was asked again by Poe, “Hindi kayo nag-usap bakit ganito tayo umalis ng Pilipinas (The two of you didn’t talk why you were leaving the Philippines that way)?”
Shiela said, “Huli na (It was too late).”
At one point, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa scolded Shiela for “lying” before the Senate panel on the purpose of their travel.
“Hindi ka nagtanong bakit tayo palipat-lipat ng bangka, maliit lilipat ng malaki (You didn’t ask why you needed to transfer boats, from a small vessel to a big one)?” Dela Rosa said.
Shiela responded to Dela Rosa, “Nagduda na ako. Eh nandoon na ako eh. Anong gagawin ko? Babalik ko pa dito sa Pilipinas (I started to have doubts. But I was already there. What should I do? I couldn’t go back to the the Philippines).”
At this moment, Dela Rosa was irked and scolded Shiela.
“Hindi naman kita sinasabing pabalikin dito pero halata na nagsingungaling ka. Wag mo kami lokohin dito (I didn’t say you should be made to return to the hearing, but it’s obvious that you’re lying. Don’t take us for fools),” Dela Rosa said in a high tone.
Shiela quickly apologized for any “wrong response” and maintained that she does not know anything about their travel.
However, Dela Rosa went on and told her, “Baka akala mo kung ano ginagawa ni Alice Guo sa committee na ito, kaya mong gawin din? Pasensya? You are lying (Maybe you think that what Alice Guo did to the committee, you could do it, too. Forgiveness? You are lying).”
“Makinig ka, ‘wag mo kami lokohin dito. Niloloko mo kami. Klaro na hindi ka nagtanong sa kapatid mo na bakit kayo magbangka at hatinggabi tayo lalayas dito. Tapos sabihin mo sa amin ngayon na hindi mo alam na lalayas na kayo ng Pilipinas. Tell it to the Marines,” he went on.
(Listen, don’t lie to us. It’s clear that you didn’t ask your sister why you had to take a boat to leave at midnight. Then you’ll tell us that you didn’t know that you were leaving the Philippines. Tell it to the Marines.)
“Baka akala nyo kaya nyo lokohin lahat ng opisyales ng gobyerno na kaya mabayaran. Kami dito hindi kami puwede bayaran. Walang puwedeng magbayad kahit na milyon milyon ang pera niyong mga Chinese kayo, walang makabayad sa amin dito. Kaya ‘wag n’yo kami lokohin,” Dela Rosa said.
(Maybe you think that you can fool and buy off all government officials. You cannot do that to us. No one can pay us, even if the Chinese has millions, no one can buy us off. Don’t lie to us.)
Off to Malaysia, Singapore
At the early part of the Senate hearing, Shiela confirmed that she, along with her supposed siblings, Alice and Wesley, left the Philippines via several boat rides.
Shiela mentioned a Chinese term for the place that they went to in Malaysia, which Senator Risa Hontiveros said could be the Chinese name for the Sipadan Island in Sabah, Malaysia.
An immigration stamp dated July 18 was seen on Shiela’s Philippine passport.
According to Shiela, they stayed in Malaysia for four to five days before they rode an airplane going to Singapore.
It was unclear how long they stayed in Singapore but Shiela said that on August 18, she rode a ferry to Batam, Indonesia together with Alice and Cassandra Li Ong, the authorized representative of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) that was raided in Porac, Pampanga.
‘Bored’ Wesley
According to Shiela, they went to Batam because Wesley—Shiela’s boyfriend—was “bored.”
“Kasi ang sabi ni Wesley boring daw siya. Wala siya ginagawa, tapos gusto niya pasyalan gano’n. Kaya nauna siya doon sa Batam tapos sunod kami,’ she said.
(Because Wesley said he was bored. He was doing nothing, he want to go on a vacation. So went ahead of us to Batam then we followed.)
Senator Risa Hontiveros earlier disclosed that a Singaporean national Zhang Jie allegedly booked four rooms at the Harris Hotel Batam Center. Zhang Jie is supposedly the former president of Lucky South 99, the raided POGO firm in Porac, Pampanga with links to Ong.
When they arrived in Indonesia, Shiela said she parted ways with Alice. That was around August 19 or 20.
“‘Yung huli, hiwalay kami. Last sa Indonesia, hiwalay na po kami (We weren’t all together towards the end, including part of our time in Indonesia),” Shiela said, adding that she was not informed by Alice about her destination.
“Wala siyang sinabi… Sabi niya lang niya sa akin, ‘Hiwalay lang muna [si] ate.’ Tapos tanong ko siya, ‘Saan siya punta?’ Sabi niya sa akin ‘wag daw ako alamin,” she went on.
(Alice didn’t say anything… She just said, ‘Ate should go her own way.’ Then I asked her, ‘Where are you going?’ Alice then told me not to find out.)
At that time, Shiela said Wesley has also left Batam, Indonesia.
According to Shiela, she is not aware of Alice’s whereabouts, but BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said he received reports on August 26 that the former Bamban mayor is in Jakarta, Indonesia. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
