Senator Risa Hontiveros denied claims that her probe on the identity of Bamban Mayor Alice Guo is an attack on the Filipino-Chinese community.
Civic leader Teresita Ang-See slammed the probe and said that the hearing which was supposed to be on the illegal POGO operations in Bamban turned out to be a witch hunt on Guo’s personal background.
“Ano ang nangyari at nalihis at nalihis na ang issue from POGO investigation at kung anong ahensiya ng gobyerno ang responsable sa masalimuot na katauhan ni Alice Guo,” said See.
“This kind of witch hunt and personal attacks are way below decency and reflects badly on the dignity of the Senate. With their budget, shouldn’t Senate do their background investigation first?” she added.
Hontiveros denied she is going after the Filipino-Chinese heritage.
“My own maternal great-grandmother was pure Chinese. The revelations about Mayor Alice Guo came out after evidence of her complicity in POGO-related crimes. At ang ibang ebidensya galing mismo sa kanyang mga salita,” the lawmaker said.
Hontiveros stated that she isn’t promoting racism or hostility towards China.
“Sa gitna ng lahat ng ito, inuulit ko ang paalala ko na hindi kailanman magiging katanggap-tanggap ang racism, xenophobia at Sinophobia. Regardless of our heritage, all law-abiding citizens should not be the subject of hate and discrimination,” she said.
