Indonesian authorities detained two companions of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The detained companions are Cassandra Li Ong, the representative of a company that provides services to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs), and Sheila Guo, Alice’s sister.
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According to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, the two companions of the ex-mayor will be sent back to the Philippines.
“They are passport holders where we have a suspicion they are fraudulently obtained or obtained through fraudulent means then we have reason to make them go back,” Remulla said.
According to Raffy Tulfo’s report, Sheila and Cassandra were arrested by Indonesian Immigration at a mall in Riau, Indonesia. Through intelligence data sharing, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) requested Indonesian authorities to detain the two and facilitate their handover.
ABS-CBN News published photos of the Indonesian police and the BI escorting Alice’s companions at an airport in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Remulla stated that despite the request from Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Guo’s and her alleged companions’ passports cannot be easily canceled.
“We cannot cancel kasi wala namang summary cancellation of passports eh. We cannot summarily cancel a passport because it is a document vested with rights. It was not found advisable also to summarily, to treat it summarily, because if the passports are canceled immediately then how can you make them travel back to the country,” Remulla explained.
In addition to canceling the passports of ex-Mayor Alice, Sheila, and Cassandra, the Philippine government has also requested the cancellation of the passport of the ex-Mayor’s sibling, Wesley.
The authorities have also alerted the Interpol to locate the four individuals.
Because of the detainment of Alice’s supposed companions in Indonesia, Remulla said that the connection between the POGO in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga has become much clearer.
“We found the connection between Alice Guo and Cassandra Li Ong, [a] definite connection was found, which means that Bamban and Porac are closely related,” Remulla said.
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Currently, Sheila and Cassandra are under the custody of Indonesian authorities. The two will return to the Philippines from Indonesia at 5:05 PM (PH Time), on August 22, according to Raffy Tulfo’s report.
