Senate Deputy Minority Leader Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday, May 8 expressed her disappointment at Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo for lying at the continuation of the Senate’s investigation on the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) activities in the country.
Hontiveros said it was evident that Guo lied when she was confronted over the information gathered by the Senate panel and denied her ties with the POGO firm that law enforcement authorities earlier raided in Bamban, Tarlac, despite the availability of documents showing her links to the company.
Guo, during the Senate hearing on Tuesday, denied her links to Hong Sheng Gaming Technology Inc., which operatives said is involved in the series of fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scams, alleged human trafficking and serious illegal detention.
“She lied; there were several instances that she lied. Yung pinaka (The) stark and shocking example ay yung dineny nya na may connection siya sa Hong Sheng eh nandun na nga sa mga dokumento ng municipal government na siya na nga ang pinuno ( was when she denied her connection to Hong Sheng when documents of the municipal government proves she was the head),” Hontiveros told reporters in a press briefing at the Senate.
“Institutionally, dapat pinanindigan niya yun na siya ang representative ng Hong Sheng na humingi sa noon municipal council ng LONO or letter of no objection (she should have admitted that she was the representative of Hong Sheng that asked from the past municipal council for a LONO),” she pointed out.
“So paano niya sasabihin na wala siyang kinalaman sa Hong Sheng (So how can she say that she has nothing to do with Hong Sheng)?” she pointed out.
Hontiveros said she was very tempted to tell the mayor to submit an explanation to the committee on why she shouldn’t be cited in contempt by the committee.
“Kaya ko siya binabalaaan, na (That’s why I warned her) mayor, you know fellow workers in government tayo nina Sen. Sherwin, pero to reiterate yung sinabi ni Sen. Sherwin sa opening remarks nila na parang , sa isa pang sitwasyon na ginagago tayo nitong mga POGO na to (we are government workers with Sen. Sherwin, but to reiterate his opening remarks, we are being fooled by these POGO firms),” she said.
Nevertheless, she said she hopes that the mayor would come out clean about her identity which she and Gatchalian has earlier found dubious.
Hontiveros said the panel will be waiting for Guo to submit a copy of her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) and Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE).
“I hope these documents would give us a clearer view of her real identity, or at least the identity she wishes to, at least, put on Philippine record,” she said.
“Maaari rin nating mas tuklasin pa sa mga susunod na hearing: Si Mayor Alice ba, at ang mga tulad nyang may mga mahiwagang nakaraan, ay mga asset na pinapasok ng China sa ating gobyerno para magkaroon sila ng mabigat na impluwensya sa politika sa Pilipinas? Marami nang ibang kasong ganyan sa ibang bansa, kaya hindi na ito bago, at dapat nating imbestigahan (We can also explore more in the next hearings: Is Mayor Alice, and those like her with mysterious pasts, assets that China has introduced into our government so that they can have heavy political influence in the Philippines? There are many other cases like that in other countries, so this is not new, and we should investigate),” added the lawmaker.