Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros will lead the Senate subcommittee tasked to look into the “escape” of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo.

This, after Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, newly-elected head of the committee on justice and human rights announced the formation of a subcommittee, composed of three panels, to look into the circumstances of Guo’s flight from Philippines, to Malaysia, to Singapore and to Indonesia. 

“The chairperson I have designated is no other than the Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros herself,” Pimentel manifested during the Senate’s plenary session on August 21.

Since Hontiveros’ committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality is leading the investigation into the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) related-crimes, Pimentel designated her panel as the “secondary referral.”

Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, afterwards, suggested the inclusion of the Senate committee on transportation since the matter involves the apparent negligence of port authorities to stop Guo from leaving the Philippines. 

“The chair is correct, perhaps the negligence here of our port authorities — Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), international airports, and even domestic airports might be implicated,” Tolentino said.

“And I understand the Palace already issued a statement concerning this that heads would roll, perhaps the committee on transportation should also be a part of the aggregated committees that would hear this,” he said. 

Pimentel agreed with Tolentino’s suggestion, saying the Senate can treat the matter as “one of those rarest occurrences.”

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, later on, accepted Pimentel’s motion. Hontiveros’ privilege speech about Guo’s exit from the country.

Nevertheless, Hontiveros said the women panel’s probe into the human trafficking and other POGO-related crimes will continue. 

The subcommittee, on the other hand, will focus on Guo’s “escape” from the Philippines.