THE action-packed saga of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo – Senate hearings, escape, arrest in Indonesia, deportation to the Philippines – continues to grip this nation of 115 million.
Accused of having links to Chinese criminal syndicates, the 34-year-old fugitive, who holds Philippine and Chinese passports, is back here after she was turned over Thursday by Indonesian authorities to Filipino officials led by Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr. and was deported back to the Philippines.
Guo arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport at around 1:30 am Friday aboard a special government flight, with the Bureau of Immigration immediately executing the mission order: charges of undesirability and misrepresentation under Philippine immigration laws.
The Philippine National Police said Guo, who had cut her hair, was scheduled to undergo a medical check at Camp Crame before being turned over to the Senate to implement its arrest warrant issued on July 13.
Guo remains under legal custody of the Bureau of Immigration but physical custody shall remain with the Philippine National Police.
Guo is facing a total 87 counts of money laundering, along with a human trafficking complaint related to the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators hub in Bamban.
On Thursday, the Tarlac Regional Trial Court Branch 109 also issued an arrest warrant for Guo in connection with a graft case.
We see here the wheels of justice rolling – and hope they will continue to roll against other prominent cases – and give our hand to Indonesian officials for facilitating the deportation which certainly is not the end of the episode.
We heard President Marcos say, answering questions from media during a Malacanang briefing, that government officials who helped Guo escape will not only be dismissed but will be sued, which would make yet another sidebar to this beguiling narrative.
The President said those who helped Guo escape would surely face charges and “pay the price.”
Guo, who had sought Philippine government protection because of what she called death threats, was the subject of an arrest warrant after she failed to appear before a Senate inquiry investigating financial scams and human trafficking found to be taking place at a sprawling compound in her town in Bamban.
She previously faced questions from senators and investigators over her business dealings and alleged links to the compound, apart from being quizzed over her identity following discrepancies in her documents, and allegations she was in fact Chinese and, at one point a Chinese spy which she immediately rejected.
The Guo case, which includes those who helped facilitate her escape, is worth watching.
