How Alice Guo was caught by Indonesian police in only 18 days

In only 18 days, Indonesia managed to snag three high-value witnesses, trapping the most hunted Alice Guo in a villa in Greater Jakarta. They did what Philippine authorities had failed to do in two months.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is not at all happy, saying on Wednesday, September 4 — the day that Indonesia arrested Guo — that “all of those who are implicated in assisting Alice Guo to leave the Philippines will certainly pay the price.”

“Nakakahiya ito para sa enforcement agencies natin dahil ang last appearance niya dito May 22. Almost two months siyang hinahanap dito ‘yun pala nakatakas na,” said Senator Sherwin Gatchalian.

(This is embarrassing for enforcement agencies because her last appearance here was May 22. We were looking for her for almost two months, but it turns out she had apparently already escaped.)

Trapped in Greater Jakarta

Guo entered Indonesia through Batam on August 18. She had arrived through ferryboat from Singapore with sister Shiela, and Katherine Cassandra Li Ong.

By August 19, Senator Risa Hontiveros had revealed that the Guos had fled the country a month before. It took the Indonesian government only days to produce its first catch: Shiela Guo and Ong intercepted on August 21 as they tried to return to Singapore.

Alice Guo and brother Wesley managed to escape Indonesian authorities, “pero lumiit na ang mundo niya (her world got smaller),” said Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval.

It seems, Sandoval said, that from Batam, Guo hopped from one hideout to another to avoid being tracked by Indonesia, which at that point, was already on high alert.

“Mukhang ikinagulat niya ‘yung arrest niya, mukhang hindi siya handa, naka-pajama pa siya, pupungat-pungat pa when she was arrested,” said Sandoval.

(It seems she was caught off-guard by her arrest, it looks like she was not ready, she was still in her pajamas and had probably just awakened when she was arrested.)

Guo was not with anybody at the villa. It was local police of Indonesia who caught her, unlike in the case of Shiela Guo and Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, who were apprehended by Indonesian immigration authorities.

“There were CCTV footage of her going around. They followed her from Batam all the way to Jakarta, she traveled from Batam island supposedly by plane, as Shiela tried to go back to Singapore by ferry. They were trying to test the waters, what can happen to Alice if she goes through Indonesian immigration,” said Sandoval.

When Alice Guo did not try to cross another border, Indonesian immigration asked the assistance of its local police, eventually trapping her in that villa in Tangerang City in the Greater Jakarta region early morning of September 4. This was done in 18 days from when she first stepped into the country.

What’s the incentive for Indonesia to act as fast as it did? “They wanted to remove them from their country, I think because [Indonesia] considers them illegal aliens,” said Sandoval.

But is that all there is?

What does Indonesia want?

“Hindi ganun ka-simple (It’s not that simple). There are other issues between Indonesia and the Philippines that have to be resolved when it comes to this, we have many pending incidents. Baka malagay si Alice Guo sa gitna ng pending incidents para magkasundo ang lahat (Alice Guo may be caught in the middle of these pending incidents so everyone can agree),” said Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla in a press conference early Wednesday afternoon.

Indonesian local media reported within the day that their local police was requesting to “barter” Guo with Gregor Johann Haas, a suspected Australian drug cartel syndicate member who was arrested by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Cebu last May. Haas was on the Interpol alert because there was a criminal complaint filed against him in Indonesia.

When reporters verified this with Remulla, he initially answered, “Yes, what I mentioned earlier.” When we clarified if he was confirming a prisoner exchange request from Indonesia, Remulla withdrew his earlier answer.

Sandoval said they were still trying to verify this information. “I don’t know if it’s really being discussed or just something that Indonesian media has floated,” said Sandoval.

How Guo got away

On July 13, the Senate issued its warrant of arrest against Guo for contempt because she repeatedly snubbed the hearings there. She wasted no time because if we were to base it on her sister Shiela’s testimony, they left the Philppines by boat the very next day, on July 14. From which point in Luzon exactly, is unclear. Note that authorities do not fully believe Shiela’s testimony on how they left the country.

On July 14, an asset had reported seeing someone who looks very much like the dismissed mayor in an exclusive resort in Zambales, according to the Presidential Anti-Organized Commission (PAOCC). The resort was guarded by police, according to PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio.

“When we got to the resort with the Bureau of Immigration with some elements of the military, we received information that we were one-and-a-half hours too late because they already left by speedboat,” Casio told the Senate last week.

Casio made a disclaimer though that because of the mismatch of intelligence from Malaysian counterparts about a supposed arrival there by plane on July 18, and Shiela’s testimony that they arrived by boat, there’s a possibility that this July 14 sighting in Zambales was a false alarm.

It took a full month for the Philippine National Police (PNP) to get a lead, after they discovered that on August 14, there was a booked ticket for the Guos from Singapore to Manila, but that no one boarded that flight.

The Guos arrived in Singapore as early as July 21, from Malaysia.

When the BI received that information from the police on August 15, they kept it to themselves although Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said he had started sending feelers to ASEAN counterparts at this point. Even then, the Guos managed to get a ferry boat from Singapore to arrive in Batam, Indonesia on August 18.

“Ang tanong ‘nyo, sino ‘yung sisibakin? Hindi lang namin sila sisibakin, kakasuhan pa namin sila dahil ang kanilang ginawa ay labag sa batas at against all of the interests of the Philippine judicial system,” Marcos said.

(You’re asking, who will be sacked? They won’t just be sacked, we will file charges against them because what they did is against the law and against all interests of the Philippine judicial system.) – Rappler.com