MANILA, Philippines – The search for dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo has now been elevated by the Philippine government to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
According to an intelligence report earlier obtained by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the Bureau of Immigration and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, the ex-mayor was able to exit the country on July 18, with reports that she headed off to Singapore.
The BI also had information that Guo slipped to Indonesia.
“I have information that in fact ‘yung Philippine passports ni Guo Hua Ping o Alice Leal Guo kasama na nina Sheila Leal Guo, Wesley Leal Guo at Katherine Cassandra Li Ong ay nireport na nila sa Philippine Center for Transnational Crime Interpol para sa appropropriate action nila so itinaas na rin po hanggang sa level ng Interpol,” Hontiveros said in a press briefing Wednesday.
Hontiveros said this means the Interpol now has official watch on Guo, her family and Ong and can now determine what proper actions to take against them.
Interpol notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.
Among the notices they release include the Red Notice which “seeks the location and arrest of persons wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence” and the Blue Notice which “collects additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs has also requested the BI and the National Bureau of Investigation to establish Guo’s deliberate attempt to declare fraudulent identity and citizenship in her passport applications.
Further shrinking Guo’s world is the filing of precautionary measures by the DFA Office of Consular Affairs to enlist her and four others in the passports watchlist database.
“Ang implication ay hindi lang mahihirapan kung totally mapipigilan na magamit pa ‘yung Philippine passport lalo na ni Guo Hua Ping na wala naman k gumamit ng Philippine passport,” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros said they are still checking if Guo’s Chinese passport under the name Guo Hua Ping still holds validity.
The Senate committee on Justice headed by Sen. Francis Tolentino is forming a subcommittee with Hontiveros standing as its chairperson to determine how Guo was able to flee the country despite pending criminal cases, a standing Senate warrant and an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order in effect.
Relevant government agencies will be invited to the hearing on August 27 to get to the bottom of the mystery of Guo’s escape.
In an interview, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said he is positive that Guo will be extradited back to the Philippines and tried here because her piling legal battles will surely make her surface.
