TWO former students of a school in Quezon City have told The Manila Times that Alice Guo, the suspended Bamban, Tarlac, mayor, was their elementary classmate.

The two consented to be interviewed through Facebook Messenger on the condition that they remain anonymous.

Guo has maintained that she was "homeschooled" by a certain "Teacher Rubilyn" and never attended formal classes.

But during a Senate hearing last Wednesday, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian revealed that Guo studied at Grace Christian High School, renamed as Grace Christian College, from Grades 1 to 3 between 2000 and 2003.

The recollections of two of Guo's classmates to The Times appear to back up Gatchalian's claim that Guo attended elementary school at Grace Christian.

One of the classmates said Guo was then known as Guo Hua Ping. "I remembered her being my classmate because she was taller and older than everybody in the class," she said.

CLASS PHOTO Alice Guo, or Guo Hua Ping, (circled) in a Grade 1 class photo in 2000. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Guo was "fresh from China" and could not speak English at the time, the classmate said.

"She didn't speak good English or Tagalog, and I remember having brought an expensive toy to class, and she wanted to buy it from me," the other Grade 1 classmate of Guo recalled.

They were even seatmates at one point, she said.

"She was older as well, that's why she didn't really hang out with our classmates," the classmate said. "It seemed like she was 13 in 2003, which means she was indeed much older than us in our Grade 1 class back in 2000."

The second classmate said Guo and another Chinese student, who could not speak English, had to attend special classes in another classroom for their Filipino subjects.

"And I don't think she took Filipino classes. She was brought to the activity rooms near the main office," she said.

"I didn't even know her name was Alice, we used her Chinese name the whole time," the classmate added.

She said that while Guo was in her class, she took up a higher grade level for her Chinese classes. According to chat groups, Guo graduated in the Chinese curriculum in 2003.

"Then they were both held back during the a.m. (morning) classes and were in a higher grade for the p.m. (afternoon) classes," according to the classmate.

"When she graduated Grade 6 [in Chinese classes], despite not having finished the English classes all throughout elementary, she left school," the classmate said.

Alice Guo is at the center of a Senate inquiry into criminal activities being carried out in a Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) hub in Bamban.

Guo did not attend the past two hearings, saying she was "sick" and stressed out.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairman of the committee holding the inquiry, warned Guo she would be arrested if she does not attend next hearing.

On Friday, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) rejected suggestions to make Guo a state witness.

PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said Guo does not qualify as a state witness because she is the "most guilty" among the personalities that are allegedly linked to the criminal activities in the POGO hub.

Last week, PAOCC spokesman Winston Casio said Guo can only be a state witness if she points to someone who is higher in the conspiratorial chain.

Guo and 13 others have been charged with trafficking in persons.

The National Bureau of Investigation has said Guo and Guo Hua Ping are the same person, having identical fingerprints.

On Friday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured that the government is on top of the campaign against criminality, specifically the operations of illegal POGOs.

In his speech during the distribution of government aid to farmers and fisherfolk in San Fernando, Pampanga, Marcos said a task force under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) would handle crimes linked to POGO operations in Central Luzon.

Law enforcement teams raided POGO hubs in Bamban on March 13 and in Porac, Pampanga, on June 4.

In Porac, 186 foreign and Filipino workers were rescued from the hub, allegedly victims of human trafficking. There were also reports that some of the employees were tortured or sold for sex.

In Bamban, 371 Filipinos and 497 foreigners working in the POGO hub were rescued.

The DILG said that Guo also has business interests in Baofu Land Development Inc., which owns the land where the raided POGO hub is.

Guo said she divested ownership of Baofu, but the DILG believed the amount she divested it for — P2.5 million — was "grossly incongruent to her investment on Baufo, which was approximately eight hectares of land."

The PAOCC is considering proposing the gradual phaseout of POGOs following raids on several hubs.

Only 42 POGOs operate legally in the Philippines, 41 of which are in Metro Manila while the other is in Kawit, Cavite.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. has canceled the license of 298 POGOs. Some of them have gone underground, Pagcor said.