Shiela Guo says she and her siblings Alice and Wesley left the Philippines via a small white boat
Shiela Guo, the sister of dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo, explained how she and her siblings left the Philippines amid the Senate investigation on the alleged illegal activities of POGO hubs, saying they were able to escape through a small white boat.
Shiela made the revelation during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 27, a day after she had been detained there.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked Shiela how they left the country, to which the latter said, "Sakay po kami ng boat... sa dagat."
When asked about their exact location before leaving, Shiela said she didn't know.
Sen. Bato Dela Rosa then asked whether they were in Luzon or Mindanao, to which Shiela responded again in the negative. "Dito lang po... galing kasi kami sa bahay," Shiela said, without giving details. "Tapos may sundo sa amin na isang sasakyan."
Hontiveros asked what type of vehicle fetched them, and Shiela said it was a van. "Hindi ko alam saang lugar, pero bumiyahe kami [nang] ilang oras. Hindi ko masabi," she said.
When asked whether they traveled during daytime, Shiela said they did during the night and arrived around the undisclosed venue at midnight.
She was asked who fetched them and what the vehicle's plate number was, but Shiela again said she didn't know.
Shiela said there were three of them inside the van: her, Alice, and Wesley.
According to Shiela, they transferred to a larger vessel later on. She couldn't specify whether it was a passenger ship, cargo ship, or a private yacht, but assumed it was a fishing ship upon seeing nets.
Shiela said they moved to another boat but supposedly had difficulty recalling whether it was blue or green, before arriving in Malaysia.
Hontiveros tried asking whether the Guos went to Zambales, to which she displayed ignorance anew. "Di ko alam 'yung lugar e, 'di ko kabisado 'yung buong Pilipinas," she said.
Sen. Win Gatchalian asked where their house was, to which Shiela answered on their "farm" in Tarlac.
When asked for more details about the white boat, Shiela said up to 10 people could fit there but could not be mobile. The next boat can accommodate more, she said as Gatchalian gave an estimate of 100 passengers. "Marami po, marami," Shiela continued.
Shiela and Cassandra Li Ong, Alice's alleged cohort who has ties to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) Lucky South 99, were previously under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation. They were apprehended in Batam City in Indonesia on Aug. 20.
Shiela and Ong arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 in the late afternoon of Aug. 22 and were taken to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) headquarters in Manila afterward.
Shiela got an arrest order from the Senate due to immigration violations.
The NBI also found that Shiela is a Chinese citizen named Zhang Mier who "fraudulently acquired" a Philippine passport upon examining her fingerprints and other records.
Ong, meanwhile, is facing charges of obstruction of justice and violation of the passport law, as well as a contempt order from the House of Representatives. She's one of the key persons who could help the government in investigating the illegal operations of Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga.
During their arrest, Philippine officials said Indonesian authorities didn't find Alice and Wesley.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco previously said that they believe Alice, Shiela, and Wesley illegally traveled to Malaysia as early as July before flying to Singapore.
Last Aug. 19, Hontiveros wrote a bombshell post on Facebook stating that Alice left the Philippines on the night of July 17 and arrived in Malaysia on July 18.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin ordered the cancellation of the passports of the Guo family following the news.
The BI said Alice is still in Indonesia as of Monday, Aug. 26.