An official from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has expressed doubt over Shiela Guo's story that she fled the Phillippines by boat together with Alice Guo and Wesley Guo, noting the multiple inconveniences they could have encountered while at sea.
During the Senate Committee on Public Services hearing, Senator Raffy Tulfo asked Capt. Oliver Tanseco, PCG-Commander, Coast Guard Investigation and Detection Management Service how the Guos escaped if the so-called "backdoors" of the country are monitored 24/7.
For Tanseco, he believes that the Guos may have left on a speed boat before transferring to a fishing boat to evade authorities at the port.
"Yun po sa ngayon ang kakulangan po natin sa pagmomonitor po nito (For now that's what we lack in terms of monitoring)," he said.
"Meaning, kahit po yung beach resort, kaya nga sabi niya, resort daw ito, sumakay sila doon, yun po ngayon ang wala kaming pagbabantay kasi nga po ito these are privately-owned, ang atin lamang pong regulation nung speedboat na yun ay kugn siya ay seaworthy (It means even in beach resorts, that's why she said they boarded in a resort, for now we cannot monitor these because they are privately-owned, we can only regulate the speedboat if it's seaworthy)," he added.
Shiela, whose currently detained at the Senate’s detention facility, narrated how she, Alice Guo, and another sibling, Wesley Guo escaped from the Philippines traveling from their farm in Tarlac to the south from dinner time to midnight.
According to Shiela, the three of them were fetched by a van. However, she could not recall the exact date they left the Philippines but only said they left around first week of July of this year.
In the previous hearing, Shiela told Senator Risa Hontiveros that they transferred to a much larger boat with fishing nets just before the break of dawn. She added that before they arrived in Malaysia, they again moved to a green or blue-colored boat.
Shiela stated that she was clueless about where the three of them would go since Alice only asked her to accompany her.
"Kaya nga sinabi niya malaking fishing boat dahil bakit hindi na lang sila sumampa doon sa fishing boat mismo sa isang pier na fish port? Dahil nandun po ang inyong authorities lalo na ang PCG na nagbabantay. Kaya kumbaga po binypass niya yung existing nating regulation (That's why she said that they transferred to a bigger fishing boat. So why didn't they use the fishing boat from a pier in the first place? It's because authorities are there especially the PCG who monitors. It would appear that they bypassed our existing regulation)," Tanseco said.
Tulfo then asked Tanseco if they believed Shiela's story given the sea conditions. He said that the so-called fishing boat is not designed to carry passengers and considering the lifestyle of the Guos, he doesn't think that they would subject themselves to such inconveniences at sea.
The senator also stated that Shiela might just be confusing the authorities and also raised the possibility that they may have fled the country on a plane.
"So ito po, I doubt kung ito ang gagawin po nila. Again, we do not submit to their statement kaya nga po ang PCG, iniimbestigahan po namin unless ma-verify po natin 'to then saka lang po tayo maniniwala (So I doubt that they would do this. Again, we do not submit to their statement that's why the PCG, we're investigating this and unless we verify this, only then will we believe this)," Tanseco said.
"Marumi, masikip, mainit yun po pinagsama-sama na. Kaya nga po, pareho po tayo ng pagkaintindi. Malamang hindi po ito ang ginamit nila. But then again, hindi po kami nagsasabi, iimbestigahin po namin (It's unsanitary, it's tight, it's hot in there. That's why I agree that they may not have travelled by sea. But we're not confirming it yet, it's still up for investigation)," he added.