On Wednesday, Philippine Justice Minister Jesus Crispin Remulla revealed that Malaysia has refused to provide the Philippine government with information regarding the escape of former Banban City Mayor Alice Guo, citing reasons related to previous legal cases involving the southern affairs of the Philippines.
Remulla stated at a press conference that Malaysia should have provided information about Alice Guo's departure flight, including the plane she took, but they refused to provide the intelligence citing cases related to southern affairs. Remulla further confirmed that the case involves historical disputes over the Sultanate of Sulu.
In 2022, the French Arbitration Court ruled that the Malaysian government must pay compensation to the descendants of the Sultan of Sulu to resolve colonial-era land disputes. However, in November 2024, the French Supreme Court ultimately supported the Malaysian government's appeal, rejecting the execution of part of the ruling.
Remulla mentioned that despite the Philippine government's best efforts to investigate the case, Malaysia remains silent and unwilling to assist. As for the response request to the Malaysian Embassy in the Philippines, no official reply has been received so far.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) is still unable to confirm the specific method of Alice Guo's departure, only confirming her real identity as Chinese citizen Guo Huaping. Senator Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, had previously criticized the performance of the Bureau of Immigration in this case, but Remulla urged her to understand the difficulties currently faced by the Bureau.
The Senate subcommittee led by Hontiveros continues to investigate Alice Guo's escape and her alleged involvement in criminal activities with Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO). At the hearing on March 4, Hontiveros issued an ultimatum to the Bureau of Immigration, demanding convincing investigation results within 15 days.
Additionally, Ferlu Silvio, the director of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), proposed a new theory at the hearing, suggesting that Alice Guo and her family might have traveled to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, through a "secret passage" in the southern Philippines, and then from Kuala Lumpur to Batam Island, Indonesia. This theory is still pending further verification.
