Philippine Senator Risa Hontiveros stated on August 19 that former Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban town, Tarlac province, has left the Philippines and is currently in Singapore.
Hontiveros revealed the information during a plenary session in the Senate, saying she received reliable information and presented a flight detail, showing that Guo left the Philippines for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 18, 2024, and is no longer in the Philippines. Guo then traveled to Singapore to reunite with her parents Lin Wenyi and Guo Jianzhong.
She noted: "This couple arrived there from China on July 28, 2024. It seems they are there reuniting with Mayor Guo's siblings Wesley Guo and Cassandra Ong."
Hontiveros condemned the incident and called for an investigation into law enforcement officers who might have helped Mayor Guo escape, angrily stating: "Who allowed such absurdity to happen? Whose responsibility is it? Without the help of government officials, Guo could not have left. I always thought legislative hearings were policy-oriented, so when the president announced the ban, I thought we had done our job, letting law enforcement lead. But what if law enforcement itself needs to be investigated? What if they are negligent? What if they should be held accountable?"
Philippine Senator Raffy Tulfo expressed concern about the impact of Guo's disappearance, confident that she took a chartered flight without following normal exit procedures, and received help from unlawful airport officials. Tulfo pointed out that most airports waived normal travel procedures for passengers using chartered flights. A thorough investigation could reveal who handled Guo's passport.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian also stated the necessity to check whether Mayor Guo had entered or left the country in the past few months, ignoring the Senate's arrest warrant, and noted that her team had submitted a motion with a rebuttal testimony from the Department of Justice regarding the human trafficking case against her. Gatchalian said the rebuttal testimony was notarized by a lawyer named Elmer Galica. One of his staff confirmed that Mayor Guo personally went to this lawyer's office in San Jose, Bulacan province on August 14, 2024.
Gatchalian expressed shock: "So we were really fooled, as it seems she had also been entering and leaving the country, regardless of the arrest warrant. If she indeed appeared personally before Lawyer Galica."
