Former Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo invokes her right to remain silent during a public hearing conducted by the Committee of Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality on the alleged illegal activities of of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogo) hubs in Pampanga and Tarlac on Sept 17, 2024. - PDI
MANILA: A former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief allegedly received a bribe to help dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and her siblings escape the country despite being under an immigration lookout bulletin.
This information was revealed during the Senate panel on women’s ongoing investigation into illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) on Tuesday (Sept 17), when Senator Risa Hontiveros asked law enforcement officials if intelligence reports indicated that a high-ranking official received a P200 million bribe to facilitate the escape.
Hontiveros previously revealed that Guo and her siblings gave the money to exit the country without being detected by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and other law enforcement agencies.
Shiela Guo, who was earlier identified as Alice’s sister, said that she was unaware of the money supposedly used to evade arrest.
When the senator asked if there are other personalities involved in the alleged bribery from the information gathered by the intelligence community, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) Senior Vice President of Security and Monitoring Cluster Retired General Raul Villanueva said that they gathered information that a former PNP chief allegedly received a bribe.
“Not PNP unit but personalities...I think it was mentioned that [it was] a former chief of PNP,” Villanueva added.
Hontiveros asked Villanueva what kind of assistance the PNP personnel provided to Guo. The Pagcor official said that he can’t confirm the information.
“I don’t know the exact aid supported but it is still not yet confirmed if [the PNP official] gave, was given, or received, or if there were witnesses. That’s what we only heard in the intelligence community. I’m out of the loop lately, I can’t confirm,” Villanueva noted.
Villanueva also said that he does not know the name “except there were some rumours in the intelligence community that [it was] a former chief of PNP.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada proceeded to ask if it was just a gossip to which Villanueva said that the “intelligence community is still verifying.” - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
