The most controversial mayor in the Philippines, who faces a string of complaints, has evaded authorities and has successfully left the country.

Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo had already left the country as early as July 18, opposition Senator Risa revealed on Monday, August 19.

Guo was able to travel abroad even though different government agencies are supposed to be tracking her. There are several actions and proceedings against Guo, yet not one agency was able to stop or catch her.

Someone dropped the ball, and agencies have been passing the buck.

Where did Alice go?

Hontiveros said in a privilege speech that Guo, identified as Guo Hua Ping, flew to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. An intelligence source told Rappler that Guo arrived in Malaysia on July 18, then traveled to Singapore on July 21.

Guo faces a qualified trafficking complaint at the Department of Justice (DOJ) over her alleged ties with the raided Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) in Bamban. The DOJ was the first place she should have showed up at, because unlike the Senate, this was a criminal action. But she never personally appeared there in the three preliminary investigation hearings conducted by prosecutors.

It turns out that Guo missed the deadline to file her counter affidavit there, which is the time she should have appeared personally. The complaint was submitted for resolution without her submitting her defense, but on August 15, Guo, through her lawyers, filed a motion to reopen the preliminary investigation, saying it took her time to put together her counter affidavit.

Counter affidavits should be sworn personally, usually before prosecutors handling the case. If they can cite valid reasons, persons who are the subject of a complaint can swear to the truthfulness of these before a notary public somewhere else. Guo’s counter affidavit shows she supposedly appeared before a notary public in Bulacan on August 14.

But how did this happen if she had already left the country on July 18?

DOJ prosecutor Sonny Ocampo said lawyer Elmer Galicia notarized Guo’s affidavit in Bulacan and Guo personally appeared before the lawyer.

“It appears that on August 14, at around 7 pm, when Galicia arrived in his office, a land cruiser was already there and Guo was on board. Someone arranged and told him that someone will ask for notary. Now, he and Alice Guo talked downstairs. Guo presented her driver’s license, then he notarized the counter affidavit,” Ocampo told reporters in Filipino.

What did agencies do?

There is a Senate arrest order against Guo for snubbing the hearings on illegal POGOs and an immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO). Neither of these two can prevent Guo from leaving the country. What could have stopped the dismissed mayor from going overseas is a hold departure order (HDO), but this can only be applied for when there’s a pending case before a court. But the qualified trafficking complaint is still pending before DOJ prosecutors.

The DOJ’s other option was to apply for a precautionary HDO (PHDO). This is a fairly new HDO meant for prosecutors to prevent flight of a suspect while they resolve complaints. Yet the DOJ did not do this.

“We didn’t file PHDO anymore. We just settled for the ILBO…. At the same time, there’s already an outstanding warrant addressed for Mayor Alice Guo…. And finally, she can’t really travel abroad because she needs travel [authorization] from the Secretary of the Interior,” DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said on August 14.

Guo traveled with her Philippine passport, authorities said. Why did she still have a passport? Because the right to travel is a constitutional right, and without a court case, Guo retained that right as a supposed Filipino citizen.

On July 5, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed a petition before a local court in Tarlac, to cancel the birth certificate of Guo, citing irregularities in obtaining her late registration of birth. That is still pending. If that is granted, then Guo essentially would lose her supposed Filipino citizenship, which could potentially have been basis to cancel her passport.

But this did not happen. Malacañang only acted on Tuesday, August 21, when Guo’s departure was made public. It ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Guo’s passport “in the interest of national security.” Section 4 of RA 11983 authorizes the foreign secretary to cancel a passport “in the interest of national security, public safety, and public health.”

In all of this, the fact remains that there is a Senate warrant of arrest out for her. What did law enforcement like the Philippine National Police (PNP) do? PNP spokesperson Colonel Jean Fajardo said the national police did everything in its power to locate her.

“We provided the necessary police assistance to the personnel of the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms and if there is any effort on the PNP that we can give, the PNP is willing to cooperate,” Fajardo added.

Who let Guo out?

How did Guo enter Indonesia on July 18? This part remains hazy.

The Presidential Anti Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) sent out initial information to media Monday evening that Guo’s route on July 18 was Denpasar, Indonesia to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia via Batik Air 177. PAOCC was still confirming whether Guo really went to Denpasar first before Kuala Lumpur.

If Guo flew Batik Air from the Philippines to Kuala Lumpur, that means she flew from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) from where Batik Air flies out. But according to the Bureau of Immigration (BI), there is no record of Guo’s departure from the Philippines on their centralized database.

Yet the BI has records of Guo’s entry to the three ASEAN countries mentioned by the PAOCC — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 18, flight to Singapore on July 21, and ferry boat to Batam, Indonesia on August 18.

There is a possibility that Guo left the Philippines by sea or via private plane, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said when asked by Rappler.

“We are seeing those as among the possibilities that she utilized to leave the country without immigration, without immigration inspection. Because if she will pass through formal ports that have immigration presence, we can see her record,” Sandoval said in Filipino.

“If Mayor Guo illegally left the country, meaning she did not undergo immigration inspection, then regardless of his/her derogatory record, they would be able to circumvent that because there’s no inspection conducted. That would not pop up in our database,” she added.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco had earlier said that there were “informal exit points” not manned by the BI, but “are managed and monitored by other aviation or maritime agencies.”

“For private aircrafts, like what has been mentioned in the Senate, they should have a processing center under the watch of several government agencies because they should have proper clearances before they can take off. For watercraft, a strengthened monitoring in our seas would help since the Philippines is very porous,” Sandoval explained.

All these suggestions are in hindsight — after the Philippines’ most hunted at this time had already left.

Who will be accountable?

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla himself acknowledged that there are “some dishonest immigration personnel in the country.” After President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the total ban on POGOs, Remulla reminded BI personnel to refrain from engaging in corrupt activities as the government processes the foreigners’ exit from the Philippines.

In light of Guo’s escape, Remulla ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the BI to probe into the incident.

“I am issuing this final warning against erring BI personnel who may have had a participation in the escape of Guo despite strict restrictions imposed by our government, it’s either you come out and unveil the truth or wait until I personally get to the bottom of this where heads will roll and all hell will break loose,” Remulla said in a statement on Tuesday.

What happens now to Guo?

To be clear, there is no court-issued arrest warrant against Guo, which gives her legal leeway. When DOJ finally resolves the complaint, and in the event that they file a charge in court, a judge has to issue an arrest warrant. That court warrant can become basis to put out an Interpol red notice alert for her.

Police in whichever country she’s in, and who are part of the Interpol, can take her into custody and extradite her to the Philippines. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore are all member countries of the Interpol, like the Philippines.

But without a court warrant, what’s the option? In the case of expelled Negros Oriental lawmaker Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr, the DOJ requested the Interpol for a blue notice even without a court warrant. The blue notice is pretty much like an ILBO — it is used “to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.”

“Hindi makakaalis si Alice Guo kung walang tumulong sa kanya na mga opisyales ng pamahalaan,” said Hontiveros, “parang nagpasampal tayo sa dayuhang ito na paulit ulit na sinasaula ang ating mga batas, patakaran at proseso.”

(She could not have left if government officials did not help her…It’s like we allowed ourselves to be slapped by this foreigner who repeatedly made a mockery of our laws, rules, and processes.) – Rappler.com