DISMISSED Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo is most likely heading to the “Golden Triangle” considering her family’s business interest in the area.
In a media forum, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) spokesperson Winston Casio said Guo is “definitely” not going to China.
“She will definitely not go to China in as much as she is already a person of interest as far as China is concerned because she’s accused of a serious crime in the Philippines in relation to illegal gambling -- and we know how strict China is in relation to gambling in their own territory. So, definitely, she would not be heading to any of those territories,” he said.
The “Golden Triangle” is an area of about 367,000 square miles located in mainland Southeast Asia, bordered by Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand, according to the World Atlas.
“Now, what is the feasible territory that she would head into? As the, as the commission is concerned, as far as the PAOCC is concerned, we’re confident that she’s trying to get into the Golden Triangle because the family, the Guo family has business interest, gambling interests in Cambodia. So, that would be the safest bet that we have as of this moment,” Casio said.
“It depends where in the Golden Triangle she will land…So, the Golden Triangle, those countries are very porous in boundaries as I imagined and we know what the Golden Triangle entails when we talk about transnational organized crime,” he added.
Casio also said a fugitive in the Philippines would not dare enter countries where there is an extradition treaty.
“If I am a criminal from the Philippines, I will not go to countries where extradition between that territory and the Philippines exists and I will not go to territories that are party to the international… to the United Nations… UNTOC so to speak, United Nations Convention on Transnational Crime. I will never go to those places kasi madali po akong ibabalik,” he said.
Guo reportedly “escaped” the country in July amid the controversies she is facing due to her alleged involvement in illegal Pogo, as well as accusation in relation to falsification of nationality and identity.
Casio expressed strong belief that Guo’s escape could have been facilitated by powerful individuals, including public officials.
“An operation of that magnitude has so many moving parts and to control an information such as that would require a technical expertise that is not available to just a simple party or individual,” he said.
“She could not have done it on her own… napakatanga naman namin lahat sa law enforcement… so someone, somewhere kept on dribbling the ball,” he added.
He said Guo and several members of her party left aboard two speedboats in the early hours of their operation.
Casio said prior to Guo’s escape, she and her companion were seen in a private resort in the western tip of Luzon.
On Thursday, August 22, her sister, Sheila Guo, and another companion, Cassandra Li Ong, the authorized representative of the raided illegal Pogo in Porac, Pampanga, were apprehended and deported from Indonesia.
They are currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) facility, facing complaints related to obstruction of justice, harboring a fugitive, and violation of the Philippine Passport Act.
Sheila, according to NBi Director Jaime Santiago, “fraudulently acquired” a Philippine passport, noting that based on fingerprint analysis, hers matched to that of Chinese national Zhang Mier.
A passport under Zhang’s name was recovered from Sheila following her arrest.
While these cases are bailable, Sheila and Ong may still not be walking free soon due to the arrest order issued against them by the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, amid the ongoing probe into the illegal Pogos raided in Bamban and Porac.
The Philippine authorities have already requested for the issuance of a red notice for the arrest of former mayor Guo. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)