BAMBAN, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo vehemently denied allegations that her real mother was Lin Wen Yi (earlier identified as Wen Yi Lin), a Chinese national.
In a letter of explanation submitted by Guo to Senator Risa Hontiveros through her lawyer, the suspended local government executive said Lin was her father’s live-in and business partner.
(Some say Lin Wen Yi is my real mother. She is involved in our family companies, but Amelia Leal is my mother in all documents.)
"Hindi totoo ang paratang na si Amelia Leal ay isang non-existing person. Si Lin Wen Yi ay kinakasama at isang business partner ng aking ama. Hindi siya ang aking Ina," she added.
(The allegation that Amelia Leal is a non-existent person is not true. Lin Wen Yi is my father's live-in and business partner. She is not my Mother.)
Earlier, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said he strongly believes that Guo’s mother is Lin, which makes her a full-blooded Chinese national.
He said he received information that Guo, in her younger days in their community in Valenzuela, Gatchalian’s hometown, introduced a certain Lin as her mother.
He said based on the records of the family businesses of Guo, Lin was included as incorporators along with his father Guo Jian Zhong and four siblings, in seven out of their 14 companies.
Hontiveros also showed documents supporting Gatchalian’s “theory.”
Guo is currently in hot water following the discovery of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (Pogo) near the Bamban municipal hall.
The Pogo hub, the Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated (ZYTI), was raided by the police in March after one of its employees escaped and sought help from the authorities after they were “illegally held” inside the facility.
The firm was also allegedly involved in various illegal activities, such as human trafficking, surveillance activities and hacking of government websites.
It was later found that Guo assisted the company in obtaining business permits during the administration of her predecessors.
She also admitted that she owned half of the land being leased by ZYTI but she already divested even before she won as the town’s mayor. She denied links with Pogo.
Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality that probes the POGO raid, is digging on Guo’s identity over the possibility that she is a Chinese spy.
In one of the hearings, the lawmaker presented documents from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) stating that Leal, who is listed as Guo’s mother in her birth certificate, is non-existing.
Leal, who is allegedly a Filipina, is also listed as the mother of Guo’s three other siblings.
In the birth certificate of Guo and her three siblings, they have the same father and mother except that their declared date of marriage varies.
However, the PSA said Guo’s parents also do not have any record of marriage.
Guo earlier said she is her father’s love child with their helper who left her when she was still a child.
She said she is also willing to undergo a DNA test to prove her nationality and relationship to her mother, Leal, in case she would surface.
“Hindi po ako protector ng Pogo. Wala po akong kinalaman sa murder, prostitution, human trafficking, love scam, money laundering at iba pang cybercrimes. Hindi po ako nagnakaw,” she said in her letter.
(I am not a protector of Pogo. I have nothing to do with murder, prostitution, human trafficking, love scams, money laundering and other cybercrimes. I didn't steal.)
“Ang nais ko lang po sana ay ako ay inyong pakinggan bago husgahan. Mahalin bago nyo biguin. Pilipino ako. Inihalal din katulad po ninyo. May dangal at pagkatao,” she added.
(All I want is for you to listen to me before judging. Love me before you disappoint me. I'm Filipino. Elected just like you. A person who has dignity and character.)
On Monday, Guo, along with two other Bamban local officials, were ordered suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman for 60 days over charges of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service filed against them by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Meanwhile, following the Senate committee’s executive session with regulatory and law enforcement agencies, Hontiveros said her doubt on the nationality of Guo became even more “solid.”
The lawmaker said there are also more pieces of evidence that may strengthen the charges filed against Guo over her alleged links to Pogo.
“Walang nakabawas o nakabura doon sa namumuo talagang opinyon ng kumite na siguradong may kinalaman siya sa Pogo hub dyan sa Bamban. Du'n pa lang sa documentary evidence, tapos siyempre 'yung ilang inputs mula sa mga resource persons,” Hontiveros said.
(Nothing could reduce or erase the committee's opinion that she definitely had something to do with the Pogo hub there in Bamban. There's only documentary evidence, then of course some inputs from resource persons.)
"Wala ring mas matibay na ebidensya na siya nga ay Filipino citizen. So nananatili talaga at lalo lamang naging solido ang mga tanong kung siya ba ay citizen o national ng ibang bansa at hindi ng atin... Hindi pa rin mas kumlaro 'yung identity niya kahit sa executive session," she added.
(There is also no stronger evidence to support that she is indeed a Filipino citizen. So the questions really remain and have only become more solid if she is a citizen of another country and not Filipino... Her identity has not been cleared even in the executive session.)
Among those who attended the executive session were representatives from the PNP, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, Office of the Solicitor General, Armed Forces of the Philippines, National Security Council, Department of Foreign Affairs, Anti-Money Laundering Council, Bureau of Immigration, and National Bureau of Investigation.
Hontiveros, however, refused to provide any particular evidence discussed or presented during the executive session. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)