Many Philippine politicians were quite indignant after watching the performance of former Banban Mayor Alice Guo at the Senate hearing on September 9. They once again reiterated the accusation that Alice Guo might be a "trained and smart Chinese spy."
Former presidential candidate (who only won 1.66% of the votes in 2022), former senator, and former police chief Panfilo "Ping" Lacson is one of them. The rhetoric about the Chinese spy originated from him.
"The way Alice Guo dodged questions with senators during the hearing shows that she might be a trained and smart Chinese spy, who has already started climbing the political ladder in our country as an elected mayor," Lacson said on the social media platform X.
Lacson stated that if her identity had not been exposed, Guo could have become a member of Congress and had access to highly confidential information related to national security.
He also said that if the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission had not exposed the illegal activities involving Guo, more could have happened. His exact words were, "What else could happen if the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission had not exposed her illegal activities? In the long run, if she and her backers managed to get her appointed as the Secretary of National Defense or the National Security Adviser of the Philippines using money and influence, we can only wait and see!"
The chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, who also chaired the aforementioned hearing and was the first to label Guo as a "Chinese spy" over three months ago, Risa Hontiveros, warned that legislators, government officials, and the public should not indulge and flatter Guo, but should focus on creating necessary laws to end the illegal activities of the dismissed mayor of Banban.
Hontiveros repeated her question to Guo, "Are you Alice Guo?" She dodged the question again, answering, "I cannot confirm, it has been filed. I will answer this question in court."
As before, she admitted that Guo Jianzhong, whose passport name is also Guo Jianzhong, is her father, but denied that Lin Wenyi, who holds a Chinese passport, is her mother.
Guo's statement is clearly a strategy devised by her lawyer for the hearing.
Going around in circles, she still faces a "public trial" with a predetermined conclusion. It's understandable that Guo does not directly respond to the senators' questions as a legal strategy, because if she now publicly admits she is "Alice Guo," it would mean giving up an important bargaining chip for plea bargaining in the future. As long as she does not admit she is "Alice Guo," the prosecutor must prove it in court. Does the prosecutor have enough evidence? To what extent will the judge believe this evidence? These are unknowns, so they can be used for negotiation.
But the correct strategy in legal proceedings and real politics may not be the right strategy in public opinion. Alice Guo keeping silent and dodging questions only allows opportunistic Philippine politicians to once again place the "Chinese spy" hat on her head. And this is not just a problem for Alice Guo alone.
On September 11 local time, Philippine Justice Minister Jesus Crispin C. Remulla stated at a press conference that foreigners illegally obtaining Philippine passports and other identity documents might involve espionage activities. He emphasized that these issues must be thoroughly investigated to ensure national security.
Although Remulla did not specify the countries involved, he stated that this might be part of other countries' espionage activities against the Philippines. He added that the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency and the National Security Adviser are conducting related investigations.
Additionally, Remulla discussed the detention issue of Alice Guo, believing she should be detained at the Bureau of Immigration (BI), as immigration cases take precedence over other cases.
On the same day, former senator Panfilo Lacson also spoke out, urging the government to thoroughly investigate the potential links between Alice Guo and organizations that may pose a threat to Philippine national security. The former chief of the Philippine National Police expressed concern that Guo might have the resources to campaign for a congressional seat or even higher positions, eventually gaining access to sensitive government documents.
In an interview on September 11, Lacson mentioned, "Her former constituents unanimously believe that Alice Guo's governance in Banban City, Danban Province was much better than other local mayors, and they did not notice any anomalies. Municipal funds have always been used for her 'townsfolk.' If she could successfully disguise herself as a mayor, then her promotion to a congressional representative is not impossible. If she is a foreign spy, this poses a significant threat to our national security. Because once she enters Congress, whether the Senate or the House of Representatives, she will have the opportunity to access highly confidential documents, as her security clearance level will be higher. This is very dangerous."
Lacson also mentioned historical cases of real spies, such as Israeli spy Eli Cohen, who was sent by Mossad to Syria in the 1960s and successfully approached Syrian ministers and businessmen to collect useful information for Israel before being executed. He stated, "I do not force anyone to see my views as the truth. I just subconsciously think that our intelligence agencies should prioritize observing Alice Guo, considering her potential risk to national security. It's worth the effort."
PS: Is Alice Guo really a foreign spy? At least there is currently not enough evidence. But if the Alice Guo incident is overly magnified, treating the illegal acquisition of passports as espionage activities, that would be absurd!
