The government should look deeper into dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo’s potential ties with organizations that could be a potential risk to Philippine national security, former senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said.
Lacson, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, said he is concerned Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping, could have the resources to run for congresswoman or even higher office and eventually have the resources to run for Congress or even higher office and have access to sensitive documents in government.
"Testimonials coming from her former constituents were one in saying that Guo had been governing well sa Tarlac kumpara sa mga mayors doon, medyo maganda at wala silang nakitang anomalya. (Testimonials coming from her former constituents were one in saying that she’s governing well in Bamban, Tarlac, and they don’t see any anomaly),” Lacson said in an interview on Teleradyo Serbisyo on Tuesday, September 11.
“Ang municipal coffers tuloy-tuloy napupunta sa kanyang mga ‘kababayan.’ So di malayo kung napeke niya ang kanyang pagiging mayor, hindi malayong umakyat siya bilang isang congresswoman (the municipal coffers continually serve her constituents. So it’s not far-fetched that if she was able to fake her being a mayor, it’s not impossible for her to be a congresswoman),” he pointed out.
“At kung siya ay isang foreign spy, medyo delikado ang ating national security. Kasi alam mo kung nasa Kongreso ka na, Senate or House of Representatives, may access ka na sa mga highly classified documents kasi ang security clearance medyo mataas na. So yan ang delikado (because if she is a foreign spy, that is dangerous to our national security. Because once you are in Congress—Senate or House of Representatives, you’ll have access to highly classified documents because security clearance is now a bit higher. So that is risky),” he explained.
Thus, it is imperative that the intelligence community include Guo in their EEI or essential elements of information and do a deeper record check and background investigation on her.
Lacson pointed out there are true-to-life spy stories including that of Eli Cohen, an Israeli spy who was projected by Israel's Mossad to infiltrate Syria in the 1960s.
Before Cohen was executed, he managed to rub elbows with Syrian ministers and traders and gather useful information for Israel, the former lawmaker recalled.
“I am not forcing anyone to take my opinion as gospel truth. Maybe I was subliminally positing that our intelligence agencies include Guo in their EEIs. It is worth the effort, considering the potential risk to our national security,” he said in an earlier post on X.
“Ang pinaka-worry ko talaga kung na-elect siyang mayor at maganda ang pamamalakad sa Bamban di malayong tumakbo siyang district representative or congresswoman at manalo. Hindi malayo yan, may panggastos siya eh (My greatest worry is that if she is elected as a mayor and her governance in Bamban is good, it’s not impossible for her to run for district representative and win. It’s not far-fetched, she has funds),” he pointed out.
Chinese name
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada and Sen. Joel Villanueva, in separate interviews, said that the person who supposedly helped Guo escape from the Philippines “has a Chinese name.”
During the Senate hearing last Monday, September 9, Guo was forced to write on paper the name of the person whom she said helped her, her sister Shiela and brother Wesley, to escape from the country. She had refused to divulge the name publicly eliciting anger among the senators.
But according to Villanueva and Estrada, the person Guo had identified was found to have five passports. Estrada said the person is a foreigner, a Chinese national and has allegedly fled the country and is now in Taiwan.
“I heard that he is the boss of all the bosses of POGO,” Estrada said told reporters in an interview.
Asked if the person’s name was Huang Zhiyang, Estrada said “most probably.”
Guo, during her testimony on Friday, said they left the Philippines via boat transfers. They started off with boarding a yacht in Manila, and transferred to a bigger vessel.
In a previous statement, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality which is looking into the illegal activities of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), had said Baofu Land Development Inc.’s documents in 2019 from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that Huang Zhiyang is Guo’s co-incorporator.
Huang is also included in the human trafficking complaint filed against Guo before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Guo had also denied the involvement of any Filipino or government official in their escape last July, a matter which senators expressedly rejected.