SHIELA Guo, the sister of dismissed mayor Alice Guo, is a Chinese national posing as a Filipino citizen, immigration and law enforcement authorities said Friday.
In a joint media briefing, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said charges have been filed against Shiela Guo for misrepresenting herself as a Filipino.
Tansingco said Shiela fraudulently acquired a Philippine passport because she already has a Chinese passport.
He said the passports were discovered when Shiela and her companion, Cassandra Ong, were arrested in Indonesia.
The two were flown back to the Philippines by Indonesian authorities.
Tansingco said the complaint against Shiela was filed Thursday night before she and Ong were turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Ong, however, was not charged because she was using an authentic Philippine passport.
Ong is the authorized representative of the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) site in Porac, Pampanga, that was raided by authorities.
A subsequent search of the sprawling site yielded evidence of criminal activity such as human trafficking, online scams and even torture.
During the same briefing, NBI Director Jaime Santiago said a comparative fingerprint analysis showed that "Shiela L. Guo and the Chinese national Zhang Mier" are one and the same person."
Zhang Mier is the name on the Chinese passport Shiela was carrying when she and Ong were apprehended in Indonesia.
"So, we can conclude that Shiela L. Guo, who is currently in our custody, is indeed Chinese," Santiago said.
Alice Guo, the former mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, was ordered arrested by the Senate last July after she stopped attending hearings looking into alleged criminal activities inside the POGO compound in her town.
Sheila Guo, sister of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, and Cassandra Ong, a business partner, arrive at the NAIA Terminal 1 in Pasay City on Aug. 22, 2024, amid tight security. They were whisked to the National Bureau of Immigration (NBI) office in Quezon City for inquest proceedings. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA Sheila Guo, sister of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, and Cassandra Ong, a business partner, arrive at the NAIA Terminal 1 in Pasay City on Aug. 22, 2024, amid tight security. They were whisked to the National Bureau of Immigration (NBI) office in Quezon City for inquest proceedings. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA Sheila Guo, sister of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, and Cassandra Ong, a business partner, arrive at the NAIA Terminal 1 in Pasay City on Aug. 22, 2024, amid tight security. They were whisked to the National Bureau of Immigration (NBI) office in Quezon City for inquest proceedings. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA Sheila Guo, sister of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, and Cassandra Ong, a business partner, arrive at the NAIA Terminal 1 in Pasay City on Aug. 22, 2024, amid tight security. They were whisked to the National Bureau of Immigration (NBI) office in Quezon City for inquest proceedings. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA Sheila Guo, sister of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, and Cassandra Ong, a business partner, arrive at the NAIA Terminal 1 in Pasay City on Aug. 22, 2024, amid tight security. They were whisked to the National Bureau of Immigration (NBI) office in Quezon City for inquest proceedings. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA Sheila Guo, sister of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, and Cassandra Ong, a business partner, arrive at the NAIA Terminal 1 in Pasay City on Aug. 22, 2024, amid tight security. They were whisked to the National Bureau of Immigration (NBI) office in Quezon City for inquest proceedings. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
The House of Representatives also issued an order to take custody of Ong for her continued failure to attend a POGO-related inquiry.
The NBI said it cannot definitely say if Alice Guo is still in Indonesia, despite a confirmation by the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
The BI said it has been informed by its Indonesian counterparts that Guo has made no attempts to leave that country.
Guo's name is in the immigration lookout bulletin, which bars personalities with pending criminal cases from leaving the country.
Because there is no official record of her departure, authorities could only speculate that she left the Philippines as early as July 18.
On Thursday, the Philippine government released a photo showing Guo at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 21.
Based on intelligence gathered by Indonesian authorities, Guo and her companions were assisted by a Singaporean during their stay in Indonesia.
The Indonesia Ministry of Law and Human Rights said the Singaporean it identified only as ZJ "booked four rooms at the Harris Hotel Batam Center for the last 3 days."
Indonesia's Director of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement Safar Godam, citing CCTV recordings, said, "It was found that ZJ was the party who helped [Guo and her companions] to make hotel reservations."
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said that despite a request from Malacañang, his department will defer the cancellation of Alice Guo's passport to avoid legal issues.
"It's something that's a little tricky; that's why we decided, to our best judgment, to just follow the law on the cancellation of passports, which we'll do later," Remulla said.
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