The Senate investigation into Bamban Mayor Alice Guo’s links to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) activities in Tarlac is not an attack on the Filipino-Chinese community, according to Sen. Risa Hontiveros.
The senator said this was contrary to the statement of civic leader Teresita Ang-See, who accused the Hontiveros-led Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality of getting sidetracked in its investigation into the POGO industry.
Clarifying she is not against the Senate probe, Ang-See, however, said this “something which originated from concerns about POGO got sidetracked and had become ridiculous zarzuela and the POGO investigation disappeared from the scene.”
She also said this kind of “witchhunt and personal attacks are way below decency, reflecting badly on the Senate.”
“With their budget, shouldn’t the Senate do their background investigation first? What has her alleged boyfriend, her luxurious lifestyle, her ability or inability to speak Hokkien and Mandarin have to do with her being Filipino or not?” Ang-See said.
Noting that her own maternal great-grandmother was pure Chinese, Hontiveros insisted the probe was not an attack on Filipinos of Chinese heritage.
She related that the revelations about Guo came out after evidence of her complicity in POGO-related crimes.
“The other pieces of evidence itself came from her,” Hontiveros said.
According to the senator, there has been so much evidence that they gathered against POGOs in their past eight hearings in the committee. Among these is the proliferation of fake identification documents from PhilHealth IDs to passports.
“This just shows how Chinese POGO syndicates have managed to obtain fraudulent Filipino identities through corrupt individuals in our government agencies. And what is worse with Mayor Guo, she is a public servant,” Hontiveros said.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Hontiveros: Senate probe on Guo ‘not an attack’ against Filipino-Chinese