Courtesy: Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau
SHIELA Leal Guo, sister of former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, made her first appearance at the Senate hearing Tuesday, August 27, 2024.
The hearing was jointly conducted by the Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee and the Committees on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality and Public Services presided by Senator Risa Hontiveros after a privilege speech was delivered urging the Department of Foreign Affairs to cancel Alice Guo’s passport.
An order of arrest was issued against Guo after her repeated refusal to attend the Senate investigation into the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hubs in Porac, Pampanga and Bamban, Tarlac.
She was arrested in Indonesia last August 20. Guo appeared composed during the hearing and responded to questions posed by senators politely and calmly. She said she left together with her sister, Alice Guo, and they took a boat to escape the country.
TELL THE TRUTH
MINORITY Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, during the public hearing of the Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee Tuesday, August 27, 2024 on the privileged speech delivered by Sen. Risa Hontiveros on the unnoticed flight of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, urged the mayor’s sister Shiela to tell the truth.
Pimentel also advised the counsel of Shiela not to repeat what her sister did by lying through her teeth in front of the committee otherwise, she would be cited in contempt.
The minority leader also asked government officials to tell the gaps or weaknesses in the law that made it possible for the Guos and their companions slipped out of the country to evade arrest.
The Guos, along with Cassandra Ong, were subjects of manhunt after both the Senate and the House of Representatives cited them in contempt and ordered arrested for their refusal to attend hearings.
Ong has been identified as the one who represented Lucky South 99, the illegal POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga.
She was the woman who allegedly hired former Duterte spokesperson Harry Roque to lawyer for Whirlwind, the real estate firm that had leased its land to Lucky South.
“We really want to get to the bottom of the issue because this is a big blow to our country’s reputation and we don’t want it to happen again,” Pimentel said.
