Ben Madilynn
THE supposed signatures of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo in her counter affidavit and the Senate attendance sheet “were not written by one and the same person,” the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) found out.
Upon the request of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality amid its ongoing probe on the illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) in Bamban, the signature specimens of Guo from the two documents underwent the handwriting examination, which revealed “significant fundamental differences,” such as structural formation of elements and manner of execution.
“The questioned signature and the standard/specimen signatures of Alice Leal Guo were not written by one and the same person,” the NBI said.
Guo’s counter affidavit on the qualified human trafficking complaints filed against her was put in question after it was notarized while she was in hiding abroad.
During the continuation of the Senate investigation on Tuesday, September 17, Guo said she signed the last page of her counter affidavit on the human trafficking case before she escaped and left the Philippines in the last week of July.
Guo’s counter affidavit was notarized on August 14 and was submitted to the Department of Justice on August 16 or a month after her departure.
It appeared during the recent hearing that the executive assistant of Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Liseldo “Dong” Calugay helped Guo’s staff get her counter affidavit notarized without an actual appearance.
In a statement, committee chairperson Risa Hontiveros tagged Guo as a “professional scam artist.”
“Her entire identity is built on lies… Isa na namang kasinungalingan na dagdag sa patong patong na kasinungalingan,” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros vowed to hold accountable those involved in the irregularities in Guo’s counter affidavit, especially her legal counsels.
“Mananagot dapat hindi lang ang kliyente pero ang kanyang abogado. Sana imbestigahan ito hindi lang ng DOJ pero ng Integrated Bar of the Philippines,” said Hontiveros.
(Both the client and their lawyer should be held accountable. I hope this is investigated not only by the DOJ but also by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.)
Earlier, the NBI ruled that it was established through a fingerprint examination that Guo is one and the same person as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping.
Guo is in hot water over her alleged links in the raided illegal Pogo hub in Bamban, which is just a stone’s throw away from the municipal hall.
In the recent Senate hearing, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian bared the financial inflows and outflows to Guo’s bank accounts, as well as to the companies under her, which significantly increased in billions the time the said Pogo hub was under construction from 2018 to 2024. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)
