Filipino-Chinese civic leader Teresita Ang-See (File photo from KIMBERLY DELA CRUZ)
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino-Chinese civic leader Teresita Ang-See on Monday called out the alleged Senate “witch hunt” against embattled Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, noting that it is “way below decency.”
Ang-See made the pronouncement amid an ongoing Senate investigation over controversies surrounding Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) and Guo, directly linked to two Pogo operations in Bamban, Tarlac.
READ: WATCH: Senate resumes probe into Tarlac Pogo hub, Bamban Mayor Alice Guo
The investigation focused on Guo’s identity after several inconsistencies were observed in her own narrative.
“This kind of witch hunt and personal attacks are way below decency and reflects badly on the dignity of the Senate. With their budget, shouldn’t [the] Senate do their background investigation first?” Ang-See asked in a statement.
According to Ang-See, the Senate investigation veered away from its original focus on Pogos controversies.
She cited questions raised in the hearing against Guo, specifically her alleged boyfriend, her luxurious lifestyle, or her ability or inability to speak Hokkien and Mandarin — which Ang-See said had nothing to do with her true citizenship.
“Mula sa Pogo na naging sideshow. Ang problema ng masalimuot na pagkatao ni Alice Guo ang naging main show (From Pogo that became a sideshow… The problem of Alice Guo’s complicated life became the main show),” observed Ang-See.
“Senate should focus on the issues that aid legislation. The irritable tear-jerker zarzuela serves only to detract from the problems,” she said.
Ang-See also noted that the country’s Constitution recognizes persons born of Filipino mothers as Filipino citizens.
She warned that such issues may also, in effect, be directed to Filipino-Chinese citizens who have monosyllabic surnames.
READ: Supposed parents of Alice Guo may not even exist, Hontiveros says
Guo’s case
The Senate Committee on Women is investigating controversies surrounding Pogos, specifically in the municipality of Bamban.
Guo was linked to the raided Pogos Hongsheng Gaming Technology Incorporated and Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated.
Zun Yuan’s billing statement and a vehicle seized during the raid were both registered under her name.
It was also Guo who filed a Letter of No Objection (LONO) to the business of Hongsheng sent to the municipal council of Bamban.
The mayor, for her part, denied having such connections to the operators, claiming that she merely filed the LONO because she used to be an incorporator of Baofu or the compound where the Pogo firms were located — which she later also sold.
But Guo’s co-incorporators in the Baofu also became wanted fugitives.
READ: Hontiveros flags Bamban Mayor Alice Guo’s ‘ties’ to criminals
Apart from these instances, several inconsistencies in her personal life were also noted by the senators, including different versions of how she recalled her mother — from initially not knowing her to later on identifying the woman as his father’s maid, who supposedly abandoned her kid.
Guo also lacked any hospital records of her birth and only got her birth certificate registered in 2005, when she was already 19 years old.
It was also revealed that none of her parents registered in her birth certificate had any records in the Philippine Statistics Authority, igniting the question of whether or not they actually exist.