The Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) stated on August 31 that, due to gaps in the statement of Shiela Guo (sister of Hua Ping Guo), the government is verifying her testimony.
At a news conference in Quezon City on Saturday, Deputy Justice Minister Raul Vasquez said that the government is seriously investigating the escape incident involving former mayor Hua Ping Guo and her accomplices. Vasquez said: "The investigation is still ongoing. Please wait for the next chapter of this issue. So, this is not a closed case at all. We still have to verify whether they are telling the truth. And first of all, they have not revealed much, so there is no final conclusion yet."
Vasquez stated that the government wants to determine whether the Guo siblings and Cassandra Li Ong, the founder of Lucky South 99 Company allegedly located in Bataan, left the Philippines through an airport, seaport, or private port. He said the government is verifying Shiela's claim that they paid a bribe of 200 million pesos to escape the Philippines without being detected by the immigration bureau and other law enforcement agencies.
Vasquez believes that Shiela and Cassandra cannot become state witnesses because their testimonies are "not credible." He said: "So we need a law enforcement agency to verify whether Shiela's statement about their departure is true."
Vasquez indicated that some people might face administrative or criminal cases due to the escape of the Guos, saying: "Indeed, someone needs to be responsible, especially when investigating exactly what happened and what methods they used. We are not referring to the immigration bureau. But all law enforcement agencies, if they made mistakes, or worse, colluded or something else, and did not fulfill their duties, once confirmed after the investigation, they will be held accountable."
Philippine President Marcos vowed on August 27 that there will be "no exceptions" in the investigation into the escape of the Guos, hinting that he now knows the personnel who helped the former mayor leave the country.
