Aside from suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, another local leader is under Senate scrutiny — Dong Calugay, also known as Liseldo de Quintos Calugay, the mayor of Sual, Pangasinan.

A Senate panel hearing on Thursday, September 5, sought to know how Guo, along with her supposed siblings, escaped from the Philippines despite an arrest order. Guo has been linked to illegal operations of Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs.

Calugay was born on August 18, 1971 in the municipality of Bugallon, Pangasinan, based on his certificate of candidacy filed in October 2021 and seen by Rappler. Prior to being a politician, he served as a member of the Philippine National Police.

In November 2017, Calugay and his brother, Danilo, relocated from Bugallon to Sual, temporarily residing in a bamboo house at Las Brisas Del Mar Subdivision in Barangay Poblacion while their new home was being built, a court document secured by Rappler showed.

Sual, located 31.2 km (about a 46-minute drive) from Bugallon, has a population of 39,091 and relies on fishing and farming. Despite its modest size, it is one of the top 20 richest municipalities in the Philippines, with P2.6 billion in assets, according to the 2022 Commission on Audit Annual Financial Report. It is also home to the largest coal power plant in the country, the Sual Power Station.

On July 3, 2018, Calugay officially transferred his voter registration from Bugallon to Sual. By August 2018, their two-story house was completed, and Calugay moved in with his family.

Political career

Despite being relatively new in the town, Calugay, who ran under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino, won with 12,101 votes. He was part of then-governor Amado “Pogi” Espino III’s slate, a member of the influential Espino political dynasty. Calugay defeated his only opponent, John Rodney Arcinue of the Nationalista Party, who garnered 10,434 votes.

Before winning the mayoral seat, Calugay faced two legal petitions filed on February 1, 2019, which challenged his voter registration in Sual.

On February 11, just 10 days after the cases were filed — and a day before the start of the local election campaign — Judge Corazon Natividad D. Lopez-Oro of the 2nd Municipal Circuit Trial Court of Labrador-Sual swiftly dismissed them.

In 2022, Calugay sought reelection under the regional Espino-led party Abante Pangasinan Ilokano.

HAPPENING NOW: Pangasinan Governor Amado 'Pogi' Espino III shows his support as he appears in the proclamation rally of incumbent Sual Mayor Liseldo 'Dong' Calugay. #PHVote #WeDecide https://t.co/X7fBurur4z

— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) March 25, 2022

Calugay garnered 14,735 votes, outpacing Nationalista Party bet Boying Celeste, his sole opponent, by 2,610 votes.

Calugay’s political allies also succeeded, with his vice mayoral candidate and seven councilors securing their positions. 

Aside from his mayoral post, Calugay also serves as the vice president for operations of the Pangasinan chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines. 

Illegal cigarette factory?

In 2018, Dong and his brother Danilo were embroiled in a legal issue involving an illegal cigarette factory raided in Bugallon. According to court documents, Danilo was accused of owning the unlicensed factory.

However, the case was dismissed after the Court of Tax Appeals ruled that the search was invalid, noting that “no valid search warrant was issued by a judge, sanctioning said search and seizure.” 

Prosecutors argued that the raid was legal under Sections 15 and 171 of the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and fell under permissible warrantless searches, but the court disagreed.

As a result, evidence collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue Strike Team, police officers, barangay officials, and National Bureau of Investigation operatives was deemed inadmissible.

The court documents revealed that Danilo’s camp had clarified that it was actually Dong — not Danilo — who was accused of possessing the counterfeit stamps and cigarettes. Dong was not charged in the case.

Five Chinese nationals were also arrested by the government in the said factory, according to news reports from the Inquirer and Manila Standard.

Ties with Alice, Shiela Guo

After a closed-door session on Thursday, Senator Risa Hontiveros hinted that a “clear link” between Calugay and Guo had emerged.

“Even though Mayor Guo has been removed from her position, it appears that there is [a mayor] who may be using his power to help her hide and escape,” Hontiveros said.

Government officials theorized that Alice, Shiela, and Wesley Guo may have traveled by boat, possibly departing from a port in either Pangasinan or Zambales. Shiela and Wesley are purported siblings of Alice.

Calugay’s bailiwick Sual is about a three-hour drive from Guo’s hometown Bamban.

According to Hontiveros, Alice Guo left the country as early as July 18, traveling first to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, then to Singapore, before moving on to Indonesia.

Shiela and Katherine Cassandra Ong — tagged in the POGO in Porac, Pampanga — were arrested in Indonesia and deported back to the Philippines on August 22. A few days later, on September 4, Alice was also arrested by Indonesian authorities. She arrived in the country past midnight on Friday, September 6.

Meanwhile, Wesley remains at large, although his lawyer had claimed he was willing to surrender.

It was also disclosed during the Senate hearing that Shiela owns a company, Alisel Aqua Farm, in Sual. She reportedly holds an ID issued by the Sual municipal government for account insurance membership.

There have been speculations that Calugay is Alice’s partner. But, according to Shiela, Alice and Calugay are just friends. Shiela mentioned that she first met Calugay at a restaurant in Pangasinan through Alice sometime in 2019.

In his COC filed on October 8, 2021, Calugay indicated that he was single. However, in a 2019 court document, he “admitted being married to Analiza Sarmiento pending the Petition for Declaration of Nullity which he filed in San Carlos City.”

Calugay was initially expected to testify at a Senate hearing last Thursday. However, a day before the hearing, he notified Hontiveros, the head of the Senate panel, that he had contracted dengue and required “immediate medical attention and rest.”

Since the hearing, a photo of Alice and Calugay had surfaced on social media.

Despite ongoing investigations, the nature of Calugay’s link to Alice remains unclear to the public.

Will this connection be fully revealed when both Calugay and Alice appear before the Senate on Monday, September 9? – with reports from Lian Buan/Rappler.com