Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo in a Senate hearing in Pasay City on May 22, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The Philippine government has notified the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) about the case of dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said on Wednesday.

Guo allegedly escaped the Philippines last month amid her mounting cases and is now in Indonesia.

• Guo has left Philippines, says Hontiveros

"So batay sa information ko mula sa DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) ay the Philippine passports of Guo, her siblings Wesley and Sheila, and Cassandra Ong have also been reported to the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime and Interpol for their appropriate action," Hontiveros announced in a press conference. 

According to Hontiveros, this means that the Interpol can now determine what kind of action it would take to accommodate Philippines' request.

Interpol issues at least 8 kinds of notices, including the Red Notice, which seeks the "location and arrest of persons wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence" and the Blue Notice, which seeks to "collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation."

• Palace tells DFA to cancel passports of Alice Guo, siblings

"Nagsisimula nang lumiit talaga ang mundong ginagalawan nina Guo Hua Ping at ng pamilya nya dahil lamang Philippine government kung hindi pati Interpol ay may official na pagpapansin na sa kanila," Hontiveros said.

The National Bureau of Investigation confirmed it was coordinating with the Interpol on Guo’s whereabouts. 

"Tuloy-tuloy ang pakikipag-usap. Nakikipag-coordinate kami, wala pang sagot sa amin. Yung red notice po ay ‘pag may criminal case, yung blue notice watch out lang iyan," NBI Director Jaime Santiago said. 

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had said that "heads will roll" over Guo's alleged departure.

Guo was accused of backing the operation of an illegal POGO hub in her municipality. She was likewise suspected to be a Chinese national. Guo repeatedly denied both accusations.

• Notary insists he saw Alice Guo on Aug. 14 amid reported escape

Her lawyer claimed that his client is still in the Philippines, citing their conversation.

SENATE PROBE

An Aug. 27 Senate hearing will look into Guo’s escape. 

Hontiveros said Guo’s lawyer Stephen David and the Bureau of Immigration (BI), which is supposed to guard entry and exit points in the country, will be invited to the hearing. 

“Klaro ang tingin ko na imposibleng nakaalis siya, nakatakas siya na walang ni isang tumulong sa kanya na dapat sa halip ay pinigilan yung pag-alis niya,” Hontiveros said. “Bakit walang official record ng kanyang pag-alis? Buti pa ang Malaysia may record na siya ay dumating doon,” 

(It is impossible for her to leave, to escape without the help of a single person who should have prevented her instead. Why is there no official record of her departure? Even Malaysia has a record of her arrival there.) 

The hearing of the Subcommittee on Justice is different from the two or three more hearings that Hontiveros’ Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality will still conduct in relation to Guo and POGOs.

3 Senate panels to probe Alice Guo's alleged escape

POSSIBLE EXIT POINTS

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said Guo could have fled the country through three possible exit points. 

“We are trying to get as many details as we could [on]...three possible backdoor exits: one in the northernmost tip of Luzon, another in the westernmost tip of Luzon, and the last is in the Mindanao backdoor exit,” PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio said.  

Guo headed to Malaysia and Singapore in July before traveling to Indonesia last weekend, the immigration bureau said Tuesday. 

“We were caught off guard… obviously someone dropped the ball so kailangan ng masusing imbestigasyon dito,” Casio said in a televised briefing.

“Somewhere along the line, meron talagang nagpabaya dito so it could be a matter of may tumulong o may nagpabaya.”

Casio said several government agencies were investigating how Guo escaped the country despite the Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) issued against her.

“It is still too early to disclose but in the next few days we would have to come up with a definite and concrete answer as to how she was able to get out of the country otherwise we would be the laughingstock of our ASEAN neighbors,” he said.

The official expressed confidence that the cancellation of Guo’s passport would help secure assistance from other countries to locate the dismissed official and bring her back to the country. 

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin this week directed the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice to cancel the passport of Guo and several others. 

“Kapag nakansela na ang mga pasaporte ng mga ito, the primary requirement of travel…will be lost to them. Kapag nagkaganon na po magti-trigger ito ng blue at red notice ng Interpol and that would allow the law enforcement agencies sa lugar na yon to arrest them and transfer them to the Philippines. So we are going through that procedure na po as of now,” he said. 

He said “a few more cases will be filed” against Guo. 

“There are other cases that are waiting to be filed against the dismissed mayor, Guo Hua Ping. In the next few weeks, lalabas din po yun marami nang kaso lumabas na ang tax evasion, lumabas na yung qualified human trafficking meron ding kaso sa Ombudsman,” Casio said. – With a report from Adrian Ayalin, ABS-CBN News 

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