The Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) saga continues and this time, dismissed mayor Alice Guo’s companions at the moment are beneath the federal government’s custody.
Philippine authorities reported on August 22 that Guo’s sister, Sheila, and Katherine Cassandra Ong, who’s tagged within the Porac, Pampanga POGO, had been beneath Indonesia’s custody. The 2 had been deported to the Philippines on Thursday afternoon, and have since been held by authorities.
What occurs to them and the way can their arrest profit authorities in tracing the whereabouts of Guo, who has been overseas since final month?
What are the instances?
The 2 arrived within the Philippines previous 5 pm and later had been transported to the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) predominant workplace in Manila. There, Guo and Ong underwent a medical check-up and inquest earlier than the BI. Afterwards, they had been transferred to the custody of the Nationwide Bureau of Investigation.
Since there’s no warrant of arrest towards the 2, as they haven’t any recognized violation, they underwent an inquest continuing — an expedited sort of preliminary investigation as a result of they had been detained and not using a warrant. Below the Revised Penal Code, an individual arrested and not using a warrant needs to be dropped at courtroom inside a most of 36 hours, and that’s already for grave violations.
The one arrest order towards the 2 had been based mostly on legislative orders: The Senate’s arrest order towards Guo for snubbing the hearings, and the Home order towards Ong for doing the identical.
Based mostly on the mugshots launched by the NBI on Friday afternoon, Guo faces fees for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 11983 or the New Philippine Passport Act and article 172 of the Revised Penal Code or falsification of paperwork. Ong, in the meantime, is charged with obstruction of justice.
On high of those legal instances, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval advised Rappler that Guo allegedly dedicated an immigration violation, which stems from her true citizenship. Authorities mentioned Guo faces an immigration cost for misrepresentation since she allegedly acquired her Philippine passport fraudulently and even holds a Chinese language passport.
Guo’s mugshot bore the identify of “Zhang Mier,” which is her true id in keeping with the authorities.
“Comparative fingerprint evaluation reveals that the Chinese language Zhang Mier and Sheila L. Guo are one and the identical particular person. So, iisa ‘yon. (They’re the identical particular person.) So, we will conclude na si (that) Sheila L. Guo na nasa amin ngayon ay isang Chinese language (who’s now with us is Chinese language),” NBI Director Jaime Santiago mentioned throughout a press convention on Friday, August 23.
Ong has no immigration violation and holds a Philippine passport.
Who can have custody?
Because the two had been arrested by advantage of legislative arrest orders, they need to be put beneath the custody of the Senate and Home. Nevertheless, Senate President Chiz Escudero clarified on Thursday afternoon that the 2 might be positioned beneath the NBI’s custody so the BI and the NBI can conduct inquest proceedings.
Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, among the many legislators who led the probe into POGOs, mentioned she’s anticipating the 2 to attend the Senate listening to on Tuesday, August 28.
“I believe, on Tuesday, there’s a Senate listening to so we’ll convey them there,” Santiago mentioned.
Each Guo and Ong could also be detained within the Senate and Home premises as a part of the punishments that include being cited in contempt. The Senate arrest order didn’t explicitly state the length of Guo’s detention within the Senate, however legislative our bodies can solely detain an individual held in contempt for under so long as the inquiry is ongoing.
As for Ong, she could also be detained within the Home premises for 30 days, as said within the arrest order.
The place’s Alice Guo?
Regardless of the arrest and deportation of each Guo and Ong, the truth that Alice Guo continues to be free stays.
Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Fee (PAOCC) spokesperson Winston Casio advised reporters on Thursday that the dismissed mayor continues to be in Indonesia, whereas their brother, Wesley, is not within the neighboring nation, however in one other “undisclosed” nation. The BI has completely different info as a result of Sandoval mentioned on Friday that similar to Alice, Wesley continues to be in Indonesia, too.
It was Hontiveros who first revealed on Monday that Guo had already left the nation, earlier than immigration and legislation enforcement officers might even announce it. Citing her sources, Hontiveros mentioned that Guo met together with her father Guo Jian Zhong, mom Lin Wen Yi, her brother Wesley, and Ong in Singapore.
So when precisely did immigration authorities learn about Guo’s departure?
“So far as the Bureau of Immigration is worried, we obtained the knowledge final August 15. And it simply so occurred that once we obtained that info, I used to be in Vietnam attending the annual convention of immigration authorities in ASEAN. So once we obtained the data, I already made preliminary verification with my counterparts for checking,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco mentioned in a mixture of Filipino and English.
“We didn’t instantly problem any assertion till we [had] validated the knowledge, as a result of we don’t need to unfold disinformation. So we would have liked to validate first. So once we had been capable of validate that she’s on this particular place, I instantly despatched a proper request to counterparts to offer us help in recovering them,” the immigration chief added.
Like her sister, the dismissed mayor of Bamban, Tarlac is roofed by the Senate arrest order. There’s no warrant of arrest towards her from the courtroom but as a result of the prosecutors are processing the trafficking and tax evasion complaints filed towards her. There are additionally pending petitions searching for the cancellation of her start certificates, in addition to a quo warranto case that goals to invalidate her Filipino citizenship.
Guo is on the middle of those controversies because of her alleged ties with an unlawful POGO in her city.
What’s the relevance of Guo, Ong to POGO probe?
“The connection is there. It proves the connection between Bamban and Porac operations,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla mentioned, describing the supposed connection between the Guos and Ong.
Except for being a sister of the dismissed mayor, Sheila can be a co-incorporator in Baofu Land Growth Integrated, which leased its land to Hongsheng Gaming Know-how Inc., later renamed Zun Yuan Know-how. That is the raided POGO, with whom Guo has ties.
Ong, in the meantime, has ties to the Fortunate South 99 POGO in Porac, Pampanga. Authorities mentioned the Porac POGO was a hotbed for varied illicit actions, together with human trafficking, compelled labor, and scams. Ong employed former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque for the actual property agency Whirlwind that leased its land to the Porac POGO.
The arrest of the 2 can additional assist in the probe into unlawful POGOs. Hontiveros mentioned Ong was beneath shut monitoring as a result of she is important in figuring out who needs to be implicated in relation to the Fortunate South 99 POGO.
“What’s Ong’s ties with Alice Guo, Harry Roque, and others? Who let her and Alice Guo’s sister go away the nation, and why is our immigration system filled with loopholes? I imagine all these questions might be answered in our subsequent listening to,” Hontiveros mentioned. – Rappler.com
