Sual town officer admits referring one who can process Guo’s affidavit

MANILA, Philippines — An officer of Sual, Pangasinan’s local government has admitted to a Senate panel that she referred a person who can facilitate a judicial affidavit to the staffers of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, while the latter was out of the Philippines.

At the hearing of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality hearing on Monday, Sual Executive Assistant III Cheryl Medina said she was asked by one of Guo’s staffers, a certain Kath Salazar, if there is a notary public that she could refer to.

Medina said she told Salazar that there are none in Sual, adding that she advised Guo’s staffer to look for other options.

READ: Guo personally had her affidavit notarized on Aug. 14, says lawyer

“Sa notaryong ’yan po, actually hindi ko po talaga alam na ’yang notaryong ’yan ay ’yon po ’yong affidavit na ’yan na nakita ko na lang po sa dyaryo no’ng lumabas po (With that notary, actually I don’t know that this notarized document is the same affidavit, I only saw it when it was out in the newspapers.),” Medina said.

“Kalaunan nalaman mo na parte ka ng paper trail na ito, may tinawagan ka, meron kang kinausap kasama si Ms. Kath, if I’m not mistaken, kinausap mo siya para mag-facilitate din ng pina-notaryo na ito, tama po ba? (Eventually you knew that you were part of the paper trail, that you called up someone along with Ms. Kath, if I’m not mistaken, you called him to facilitate the documents that you had notarized, is this correct?)” Senator Joel Villanueva asked.

READ: Alice Guo denies owning Alisel Aquafarm, relationship with Sual mayor

“Hindi po your Honor. Tumawag po sa’kin si Kath nagtatanong lang po kung merong abugado na magno-notaryo ng affidavit […] ang sabi ko po, sa Sual po, wala talaga. Pero meron po akong, parang ang nag-suggest suggest lang, magtanong siya sa iba (No your Honor. Kath called me and asked where she could find a lawyer who notarizes affidavits. What I said was in Sual, there is none. But I suggested, told her that she should look for one in other areas.),” Medina replied.

READ: Shiela Guo, Cassandra Ong back in PH after arrest in Indonesia

Signed by Galicia

The affidavit that Villanueva was asking about was a certification signed by Atty. Elmer Galicia, who attested that Guo was still in the Philippines last August 14—as she personally had the document notarized.

However, Guo admitted during the same Senate hearing on Monday that she left the Philippines for Malaysia last July.

When Villanueva pressed further, Medina eventually said she referred Salazar to a certain “Ka Dante”.

Guo meanwhile refused to confirm nor deny that it was her vehicle that was used to visit Galicia’s law office when her camp had the document notarized.

Villanueva however noted that it would be easy to confirm with the Land Transportation Office (LTO), while hinting at Guo’s alleged scheme—having staffers with long hairs that looked like her.

“It’s just a yes or no madali naman i-check namin ‘yong sasakyan. So that’s super being uncooperative, so we can easily ask the LTO kung sa’yo ’yon o hindi, and binanggit na rin sa mga interview, lahat ng kasama mo at staff mo kailangan mahaba ang buhok at medyo kamukha mo para madali kang maka-alis ’no (It’s just a yes or no question, we can have that car checked. So that’s super being uncooperative, so we can easily ask the LTO if that belongs to you or not. And then it was mentioned in interviews that you and your staffers need to have long hair aside from bearing a resemblance with you, so you can escape easily.),” Villanueva said.

“So kung hindi sa’yo ’yong sasakyan, which is nakakagulat dahil ito ang sinasabi no’ng si alias ‘Allan’ at si Atty. Galicia, gusto lang naming malaman Alice, aware ka na may affidavit na pina-notarize sa isang abugado na ikaw ay (wala na) sa Pilipinas? (So if the car does not belong to you, which is shocking because this is not what that alias ‘Allan’ and Atty. Galicia said, we just want to know Alice, are you aware that you had an affidavit notarized with a lawyer while you were not here in the Philippines?)” he asked.

“Sen with due respect po I have a pending case po sa DOJ (Department of Justice),” Guo replied.

Guo’s boyfriend?

Guo has been linked to Sual as some senators believe town mayor Liseldo Calugay is her boyfriend. The dismissed Bamban mayor however denied this, saying that the aqua farm named “Alisel”—which Senator Jinggoy Estrada surmised to be a combination of Alice and Liseldo—is not hers also.

Earlier in the hearing, Medina admitted knowing Guo, her brother Wesley Guo, and some of the former mayor’s staffers.

Guo left the country last July along with Wesley and Shiela Guo, while investigations of her alleged involvement in Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo) were ongoing. However, Shiela and Katherine Cassandra Li Ong — shareholder of Whirlwind Corporation and supposedly the girlfriend of Wesley — were arrested in Indonesia last August 21.

Both Shiela and Ong were deported back to the Philippines a day after.

Guo meanwhile was arrested in Indonesia too, last September 4. She arrived in the Philippines with local authorities early morning of September 6.

Guo is accused of having links with the Pogo hub in Bamban, as she used to head Baofu Land Development Inc., which leased land to Pogo hub manager Zun Yuan.

According to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Baofu, as represented by Guo who was president of the company, purchased eight parcels of land in the town last February 2019.

Guo claims to have divested ownership of Baofu, but DILG believes the amount she divested it for—P2.5 million—was “grossly incongruent to her investment on Baufo which is approximately eight hectares of land”.