00:00Your Honor, I don't remember him very well now, can I check?
00:07I really don't remember anything.
00:09Your Honor, I don't know. I don't remember having any records.
00:15What? Don't be a robot!
00:17Her name became controversial after she was caught in an illegal operation by the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator or POGO Hub in Tarlac.
00:27We are not involved in any POGO operation, Your Honor.
00:31I have nothing to do with their operation and with anything that POGO does inside and outside.
00:38The former mayor of Bambantarla, Alice Leal Goh.
00:42In the Senate, the investigation on POGO and her true identity was suspended.
00:47I grew up in a farm, Your Honor.
00:49My father hid me.
00:51I grew up alone.
00:53Apparently, Goh Huaping or Alice Goh did not grow up in a farm.
00:59She was also not homeschooled.
01:01She studied.
01:03She studied in the same school as me, Grace Christian High School.
01:07And as far as I can remember, there was no farm in our school.
01:11It was all buildings.
01:12She did not hide in the following hearings.
01:15Goh was found.
01:17Her addresses were searched.
01:19But she was not found.
01:21This August 19, it was revealed that she was out of the country.
01:26Who allowed this travesty to happen?
01:29Who has the ability to do this?
01:31Alice Goh will not leave if there is no help from the government officials.
01:38For us to fry in our own oil.
01:42How did she leave the Philippines?
01:44Will the authorities find Alice Goh?
01:46Your Honor, I will check. I will come back to you.
01:51The President's Anti-Organized Crime Commission
01:56It all started when the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, or PAOC, received a tip
02:04about the victims of torture, illegal detention, and human trafficking in Bambantarlak.
02:15I received a call from the Malaysian Embassy.
02:18They also have a national that is stopping Alice from leaving there.
02:23It is also a hostage.
02:27When we have complete information about human trafficking and other illegal activities in Bambantarlak,
02:34the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission organized an operation.
02:39On March 13, the PAOC's operating unit went from Kamkrame to Bambantarlak.
02:49Emergency!
02:51Until March 13, 2024, a van was chased by the authorities on the Pampanga Highway.
03:03Here it is, sir.
03:05Here it is. Just lock it.
03:14Okay, okay.
03:18Don't run.
03:28Vietnamese? Vietnamese?
03:30Chinese?
03:31Chinese.
03:48In PAOC's investigation, it was found out that ZUN Yuan Technology Inc. is the operator of Pogo Hub,
03:55which is now known as Scam Hub.
03:58We don't call them Pogo Hubs anymore.
04:00I'll call them Scam Hubs.
04:02Yes.
04:04It's illegal.
04:05Yes.
04:06But the thing is, what we've raided lately, SKK, SmartPep, and Bambantarlak,
04:12all of them are illegal.
04:14All of the illegals hide there illegally.
04:18In Impapawid, the vastness and size of the compound is noticeable.
04:22There are houses, dormitories, villas, and even an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
04:28When Reporters Notebook entered Pogo Hub,
04:31there were still a lot of people who used to work and live here.
04:37Inside the houses, you can find the Scam Farm.
04:41Here, you can see the computers that were sometimes used to deceive victims
04:47from different countries, including China.
04:53Love Scam, Investment Scam, and Cryptocurrency Scam were found here.
04:59Every employee uses a script to be able to scam.
05:04This begins with the profiling, the search for the victim.
05:07So it says here, after adding to WhatsApp, you must reply to your customer's message in time.
05:14Real time, so to speak.
05:16If a customer is slow to reply or doesn't reply to your customer,
05:20just delete him and don't waste your time.
05:22Look for a new one.
05:23Look for a new one.
05:24Move on right away.
05:25Yes, move on right away.
05:26In the villas of the so-called Big Boss, there are cars parked in the garages.
05:33And inside, expensive furniture and equipment can be found.
05:41Each villa alone is estimated to be worth 44 million pesos, according to PAOK.
05:48When the operation was launched, some questionable details about Pogo Hub were read here,
05:53especially this location, which is just behind the very municipality of Banban.
05:59When PAOK investigated the property, it turns out that the very mayor of Banban, Alice Huo, has a connection.
06:07This is where the investigation of the Senate started.
06:10We are now one of the fastest growing hotspots for scams around the world.
06:19The chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women and Children, Senator Risa Ontiveros,
06:25Apparently, after the raid, on-site, documents were obtained that she is still paying utility bills,
06:33salaries of maintenance employees, and others.
06:38So there was a concern.
06:40Why is a mayor so involved here in Pogo Hub?
06:47She is the one who walked the papers of this Zunyuan to be able to do business there.
06:54In the Senate, Huo admitted that she used to own the land of Pogo Hub,
06:58under the company Baofu Land Development Incorporated.
07:02At first, there was no Baofu.
07:05I bought the property for the installment.
07:08Then when I bought the property, that's the only time I invited the Chinese,
07:14the investors to invest in my land.
07:20But she denied that she was involved in this illegal operation.
07:24We are not involved in any Pogo operation, Your Honor.
07:28While the investigation is ongoing, the questions about Huo's identity are concentrated.
07:33Mayor Huo has no hospital record of birth.
07:37Her Certificate of Life Birth was registered when she was 17 years old.
07:43Based on Huo's birth certificate, her father is Filipino.
07:47But this is different from some documents related to their business.
07:53My father is Chinese.
07:55Okay, she is Chinese. So where is she from in China?
07:59She is from Fujian.
08:01If she is Chinese, your father,
08:04why is it stated in your birth certificate that your father, Angelito Huo, is Filipino?
08:10Why is that?
08:12Your Honor, Angelito is my father's Filipino name.
08:17The information about Huo's mother is also different.
08:21In her first hearing, her mother and father are married.
08:28And it came out in a registry of live births.
08:33But in her other statements, including in her interview, she is a housewife.
08:40Based on your investigation, who are Angelito Huo and Amelia Leal's parents?
08:44It points to the same pair, Angelito Huo and Amelia Leal.
08:49Unfortunately, both of them do not have a birth certificate in the PSA.
08:53And they also do not have a marriage certificate.
08:55In her hearing, where did she grow up?
08:58I grew up in Farm Your Honor.
09:00My father hid me.
09:02I grew up on my own.
09:05In spite of saying that she stayed on a farm for several years,
09:14in the election of 2022, the name of Alice Guo suddenly disappeared and the mayor of Bambang ran away.
09:25In her further investigation of Guo in the Senate,
09:28she also repeatedly said that she is a simple housewife.
09:32You have assets of almost 300 million pesos, Mayor.
09:35For me, that is not just a simple person.
09:38In the statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth of Mayor Guo issued by the Senate,
09:44it was declared that she owns three dump trucks worth 2 million pesos each,
09:51a motor vehicle worth 11 million pesos, and a helicopter worth 60 million pesos.
09:59I really want to do business with the chopper.
10:02I will make it like an air taxi.
10:04However, it did not push through.
10:06I just sold it.
10:08Her cash in bank is 200 million pesos.
10:11She also declared liabilities of 250 million pesos.
10:16In the documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC issued in the hearing,
10:21it was found that even before Guo entered politics,
10:24she has been an incorporator and major shareholder of 11 companies since 2010.
10:30She has an embroidery business, meat shop, slaughterhouse, smelting plant, and farm registered to Guo.
10:38Mayor Guo is also an incorporator in Baofu Land Development Incorporated,
10:43the land owned by ZUN U1 Technology Incorporated.
10:47The Senate and the authorities did not stop investigating Guo.
10:51In the subsequent hearings, it gradually became clear what her true identity is.
10:57I am a homeschooled, Your Honor.
10:59Of course, Guo is not homeschooled.
11:02She studied in a private Chinese school in Quezon City,
11:06contrary to what she first said in the hearings.
11:08As far as I remember, there is no farm in our school.
11:12It's all buildings.
11:13Later, the National Bureau of Investigation or NBI revealed that
11:17the fingerprints of Alice Leal Guo and a Chinese national named Guo Huaping collided.
11:23We are 100% sure that Alice Leal Guo and Guo Huaping are one and the same person.
11:31According to the records, Guo Huaping arrived in the country on January 12, 2003.
11:38We cannot say the basis of the fingerprints or the source of the fingerprints
11:43because as we speak, we have not received any document at all for that matter.
11:51Due to the revelations regarding the cases of human trafficking and torture in Pogo Hub in Bambang, Tarlac,
11:58Don't touch me!
12:00On June 21, the former mayor and 13 other members of the case were charged with anti-human trafficking in persons act.
12:10Four days later, the Department of Justice or DOJ issued an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order for Guo.
12:20Guo was repeatedly invited to hearings in the Senate, but she did not attend.
12:28She said that there were obstacles in her life.
12:30She was also affected by her physical and mental health due to the investigation of the hearings in the Senate.
12:38Due to the continuous departure of the former mayor in the hearings,
12:42Mayor Alice, or should I say,
12:45Guo Huaping,
12:47If you do not honor the subpoena, I will cite you in contempt.
12:52You played the law.
12:54You played the Philippines.
12:57Alice Guo, along with other members of the Guo family,
13:02was knighted in contempt by her accountant and other members of the Pogo Hub in Bambang, Tarlac.
13:07Cassandra Ong was also invited.
13:09Ong was the representative of the Pogo Hub, which was attacked by the authorities in Porak, Pampanga on June 4.
13:17Like what was discovered in Bambang, some victims of abuse were also discovered here.
13:24Get up, get up.
13:30And there were also scam farms where various types of prostitution took place.
13:35The Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality also issued an arrest order for Guo,
13:42her children, and other members of the family.
13:46To Guo Huaping, a.k.a. Alice Guo,
13:50we will arrest you and will continue to bring you to the next hearing.
13:57Your continued refusal is disgraceful not only to the Senate,
14:02but to every Filipino who follows the law and violates the law.
14:09As the Senate issued the arrest order,
14:13Guo was immediately searched by the authorities in her registered address in Bambang, Tarlac, and Valenzuela,
14:20but she was not found here.
14:22Guo's accountant was arrested and is currently in the Senate's detention facility.
14:28On August 13, Alice Guo was formally dismissed from the office of the Ombudsman.
14:35This means that she will not receive all the retirement benefits
14:38and for the rest of her life, she will be disqualified from any position or office of the government.
14:44This decision was based on the case filed by the Department of Interior and Local Government or DILG
14:51for grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service,
14:56gross neglect of duty, and serious dishonesty
14:59regarding the role of the former mayor in the illegal operation of Pogo in Bambang, Tarlac.
15:05While Guo was being investigated for the numerous cases filed against her,
15:10on August 19, Senator Risa Ontiveros issued a permit
15:14that the former mayor of Bambang was already out of the country.
15:20Who allowed this travesty to happen?
15:24Who is responsible for this?
15:26Alice Guo will not leave if there is no help from the officials of the government.
15:34For us to be sautéed in our own oil.
15:38A permit was signed that Guo was already out of the country on July 18.
15:43In fact, Alice Guo's permit was obtained inside Kuala Lumpur Malaysia International Airport.
15:50The fact that she is now out of the country, as far as we are concerned,
15:55that is almost an admission of guilt on her part.
15:59Personally, I feel that that is a bastardization of our criminal justice system.
16:05Based on the reports received by the people from the authorities in various countries,
16:10from Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia, Alice left Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 18.
16:17On July 21, Guo flew to Singapore.
16:21A week later, on July 28,
16:23his parents and siblings flew from China to Singapore to meet Alice Guo.
16:31On August 18, the former mayor of Batam, Indonesia, boarded a ship.
16:37We still don't have a criminal arrest warrant against Mayor Guo.
16:42Second, in the absence of a criminal arrest warrant,
16:46we could not initiate extradition request in Indonesia.
16:50Pao has a theory on how she got out of the country.
17:07Alice Guo's Philippine passport was cancelled.
17:20So, she will be confined in a place where we will limit her movement and her mobility.
17:28In the pursuit of getting Alice Guo out of the country, the Senate continued to investigate.
17:32But what if the law enforcement itself needs to investigate?
17:38What if they drop the ball?
17:40What if they should be the ones to answer?
17:42The B.I. promised me and the Senate President Pro Tempore
17:49that they will not allow Guo Huaping to leave the Philippines.
17:54But now, he's gone.
17:57It's like we're being slapped in the face.
18:01Our laws, regulations, and process are being repeated over and over again.
18:07This past Wednesday,
18:09Immigration officials in Indonesia,
18:12Cassandra Ong,
18:14the representative of Laki South 99 Pogo in Porak, Pampanga,
18:18and Sheila Guo,
18:20Alice Guo's sister,
18:22were arrested and taken out of Indonesia.
18:25Meanwhile, the Indonesian Police Attaché,
18:28Cassandra Ong and Sheila Guo,
18:30were detained in the Philippines.
18:35For the authorities,
18:37it's a big deal for the two to be arrested
18:40in order to find out what Alice Guo might be up to.
18:43That's why the President's call is for all of us to investigate,
18:48ourselves, our agencies, our co-workers,
18:52whoever it is.
18:55And this Thursday, August 22,
18:58they were immediately flown back to the Philippines.
19:00Those two women,
19:02Alice Guo's sister,
19:05and their associate, Cassandra Lee Ong.
19:09Meanwhile,
19:11Cassandra Ong and Sheila Guo were taken into custody by the National Bureau of Investigation of the NBI
19:16before being surrendered to the Senate.
19:18As for Cassandra Ong,
19:21she will be inquested for obstruction of justice
19:24and violation of the Passport Act.
19:27As for Sheila Guo,
19:29she will also be charged with immigration laws,
19:32violation of immigration laws.
19:34Cassandra Ong and Sheila Guo were also arrested
19:37in the Senate hearing on Tuesday.
19:39We tried to get permission from the Bureau of Immigration of the NBI
19:43for an interview
19:45on the escape of Guo from the country.
19:47But until now, they have not responded.
19:49Alice Guo will not be able to leave without help.
19:52The point here is,
19:54even if the initial is a lookout order,
19:56if Alice Guo follows the procedure
19:59that she will go through to the Bureau of Immigration officials
20:03at the airport,
20:05where people are limited to use,
20:07she will be monitored.
20:09She will be reported immediately.
20:11This proves that the law is weak, right?
20:15It's like a law that only has a limited limitation.
20:19In the statement issued by President Bongbong Marcos,
20:23he said that
20:24he will try to prove
20:27that there was a breach in the departure of the country
20:30of Dismissed Mayor Alice Guo.
20:32In addition,
20:34Guo's escape from the country
20:36revealed that the government's justice system is being destroyed
20:40and the trust of the public is also being destroyed.
20:43The investigation continues
20:46to find out who helped Guo
20:49to leave the country.
20:51In the sudden disappearance of Dismissed Mayor Alice Guo,
20:54the question is,
20:56who escaped?
20:58How did she escape from the authorities?
21:00According to the authorities,
21:02there was a breach in the government's system.
21:05The authorities should be held accountable
21:08and find those who are involved
21:11in the illegal activities inside Pogo.
21:14Until next Saturday,
21:16I am Mackie Pulido.
21:18I am Dune Generation
21:20and this is Reporters Talk.
21:24For more stories, visit nyseagrant.org
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