Guo's 'sister' Ong urged to tell everything – including government protectors

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on Saturday urged Alice Guo's alleged sister and their business associate to come clean and identify the masterminds of the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) that the sacked mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, helped create.

Shiela Guo, identified as Chinese national Zhang Mier, and Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, were apprehended by Indonesian authorities on August 22 and returned to Manila the same day from Batam, Indonesia, where Guo and her siblings had gone after fleeing the Philippines where she faces criminal charges.

READ: Sheila Guo and Cassandra Ong return to Philippines after arrest in Indonesia

“It would be better if they told the truth,” Gatchalian said in an interview with dwIZ radio. “They should understand that what happened is now very clear and the accusations against them are solid. They should explain everything and tell everything.”

“We just want to locate the masterminds and bring them to justice,” the senator said.

Relations now in doubt

The Immigration Bureau (IB) said Shiela Guo carried a Chinese passport in the name of Zhang Mier and the National Bureau of Investigation said their fingerprints matched, indicating they were the same person.

Winston Casio, spokesman for the Presidential Commission on Organized Crime (PAOCC), said they had reason to believe she could be a half-sister of the ousted Bamban mayor “at best” or a cousin or distant relative “at worst.”

“They are not full-blooded siblings. We can be certain of that,” Casio said at a media forum on Saturday.

Gatchalian said she played a “very important role” in the Pogo case to which Guo was linked.

“In most of the companies owned by the Guo family, she was a manager and shareholder,” he told Senate reporters earlier.

Doing a service to the government

It was Gatchalian who first raised the possibility that Guo was behind Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc., which later changed its trading name to Zun Yuan Technology Inc., the operator of the sprawling Pogo hub located just behind Bamban City Hall.

Zun Yuan was raided by the PAOCC and closed down in March this year.

The senator said Ong was an executive of Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Inc., Pogo Complex in Porac, Pampanga, which was also raided by the PAOCC in June.

According to Gatchalian, Shiela Guo and Ong would be doing the government a favor not only by revealing Guo's current location, but also by identifying the “masterminds” who funded the Pogo hubs that were allegedly used for online scams and other criminal activities.

Name protectors too

He added that the couple should also reveal how they were able to leave the country and who helped them obtain their fake birth certificates and Philippine passports.

Like Guo and her three siblings, authorities believe Ong is also a Chinese citizen.

“We will also know, through Shiela and Ong, the names of government officials who aided them and became their accomplices in the exploitation of the Pogos, and those who financed the Pogos in Bamban and Porac which became the hotbed of crime,” Gatchalian added.

The information he and Sen. Risa Hontiveros revealed during a series of hearings into Pogo's illegal activities sparked investigations that exposed a web of fraudulent schemes that not only promoted online gambling but also the illegal issuance of birth certificates and other government documents to foreigners.

Gatchalian said reports that Guo escaped the country with the help of Chinese nationals linked to money laundering in Singapore reinforced suspicions that the disgraced mayor and her family were part of a syndicate involved in transnational crimes.

Casio said Guo may have been trying to reach the notorious “Golden Triangle” where his family is believed to run large-scale illegal gambling operations.

“We are convinced that she is looking to enter the Golden Triangle,” he said. “That is the safest bet we have at the moment.”

The Golden Triangle is a mountainous region bordered by northeastern Burma, northwestern Thailand, and northern Laos. It was once known for its opium production. Today, it is infamous for criminal activities such as money laundering, online scams, and wildlife trafficking.

Casio warned against an outright cancellation of her Philippine passport, even though she was identified by the NBI, also through fingerprint analysis, as a Chinese national who entered the country as a young girl. It said it was unlikely that Guo would travel to Chinese territory because she was a “person of interest” in China. In addition, China has an extradition treaty with the Philippines, Casio added.

“I warn against their immediate deportation. Why? The People’s Republic of China has a policy that once you acquire another nationality and passport, you cannot get your passport and nationality back. What would happen to Alice, Shiela, Wesley and the others? They would become stateless,” Casio said.

The Guo siblings could become “refugees” and fall under the jurisdiction of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. They could then adopt a “different legal status and they would be protected by that legal status,” he said.

No complaints have been filed against Guo or her siblings, but the ombudsman has already dismissed her as mayor of Bamban for serious misconduct due to her “deliberate attempt to violate the law” in connection with the Bamban Pogo center. Guo has been charged by the PAOCC with human trafficking under the Justice Department.

Gatchalian said Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco should tell the truth about the BI's decision not to release information on Guo's escape to President Marcos and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.