Calugay denies love affair with Guo
A former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief may have helped facilitate Alice Guo’s short-lived escape from the Philippines in July, according to a retired military intelligence officer.
During Tuesday’s hearing on illegal online gaming operations, retired Major General Raul Villanueva, currently a senior vice president at the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), said the same ex-PNP chief was widely believed to be on Guo’s “monthly payroll.”
Villanueva, who heads PAGCOR’s security and monitoring cluster, said his sources picked up on chatter about facilitating the “border immigration” in exchange for an undetermined amount of bribe money.
When asked by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, if any particular police unit was involved, the witness answered in Filipino; “Not a unit, Ma’am, but personalities. I think it was mentioned that a Chief PNP was involved.”
It gets worse and worse. It’s bad enough that they were paid to let Guo Hua Ping [Alice Guo] escape. Even worse if there has historically been a monthly payroll [to the police],” Hontiveros said.
Villanueva, a former Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) chief, clarified that his information came from the intelligence pipeline but has yet to be confirmed.
As this developed, Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa, also a former PNP chief, sought to distance himself from the latest revelation at the hearing by directly asking Guo if she had ever bribed him.Nothing
“I am concerned because I am a former chief PNP… what if someone were to come out with a script that I have been receiving money from you [Guo],” Dela Rosa asked in a mixture of Filipino and English.
Guo quickly replied in Filipino, saying, “Nothing like that ever happened… I’m sure of it.”
The senator pressed on by asking Guo if they were acquainted in any manner at all.
“I first saw you in person here at the Senate,” she replied.
Meanwhile, Sual town Mayor Liseldo Calugay strongly denied any romantic involvement with Guo, insisting that they are only friends.
During the same hearing, Hontiveros even went as far as to display a photo of Calugay wearing a T-shirt with Guo’s image, supposedly taken during a campaign event in 2022.
“We were only friends,” the mayor from Pangasinan province asserted.
He claimed the shirts were given to him by Cheryl Medina, his executive assistant.
Calugay said he attended Guo’s campaign sorties and she reciprocated by attending his election victory parade.
“She only graced my invitation because I was there when I was asked to come at her motorcade,” he told the committee.
Hontiveros insisted that exposing the true nature of Calugay’s relationship with Guo is germane in the panel’s inquiry.
“To tell you honestly, our earlier questions could have been answered directly. I actually don’t care about your romantic relationship. We are interested in the possibility of a criminal relationship,” she said.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Guo, other key personalities attend resumption of Senate POGO hearing.”
