MANILA, Philippines â A former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief allegedly received a bribe to help dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and her siblings escape the country despite being under an immigration lookout bulletin.
This information was revealed during the Senate panel on womenâs ongoing investigation into illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) on Tuesday, when Senator Risa Hontiveros asked law enforcement officials if intelligence reports indicated that a high-ranking official received a P200 million bribe to facilitate the escape.
Hontiveros previously revealed that Guo and her siblings gave the money to exit the country without being detected by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and other law enforcement agencies. Shiela Guo, who was earlier identified as Aliceâs sister, said that she was unaware of the money supposedly used to evade arrest.
READ: Alice Guo, siblings gave âP200-Mâ bribe to leave PH â Hontiveros
When the senator asked if there are other personalities involved in the alleged bribery from the information gathered by the intelligence community, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) Senior Vice President of Security and Monitoring Cluster Retired General Raul Villanueva said that they gathered information that a former PNP chief allegedly received bribery.
âDi ko lang alam âyong sa exact amount including PNP officials (I donât know the exact amount). I cannot confirm because Iâm outside of the loop, lately. And weâre busy right now helping the law enforcement agencies running after the illegal Pogos in the countryside or in the provinces,â Villanueva answered.
âHindi PNP unit (Not PNP unit) but personalitiesâŚI think it was mentioned that [it was] a former chief of PNP,â Villanueva added.
READ: Pogo boss helped Alice Guo escape â Estrada
Hontiveros asked Villanueva what kind of assistance the PNP personnel provided to Guo. The Pagcor official said that he could not confirm the information.
âI donât know kung anong exact aid ang sinupport but hindi pa naconfirm âyan kung nagbigay, nabigyan o tinanggap or may witnesses. âYon lang po ang naririnig namin sa intelligence community. Iâm out of the loop lately, di ko rin maconfirm,â Villanueva noted.
(I donât know the exact aid supported, but it is still not yet confirmed if [the PNP official] gave, was given, or received, or if there were witnesses. Thatâs what we only heard in the intelligence community. Iâm out of the loop lately, I canât confirm.)
Villanueva also said that he does not know the name âexcept there were some rumors in the intelligence community that [it was] a former chief of PNP.â
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada proceeded to ask if it was just gossip to which Villanueva said that the âintelligence community is still verifying.â
READ: Alice Guo allegedly offered Lacsonâs pal P1B to help her
Former senator Panfilo Lacson previously revealed that his Filipino-Chinese friend was allegedly offered P1 billion by the ex-mayor to help her with her legal concerns with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission before she fled the country in July.
The ex-mayor divulged that one of the vessels they used to escape the country was a yacht, in contrast to what Shiela earlier said that they rode three boats â a small boat, a âfishing shipâ, and a small âblue or greenâ boat direct to Malaysia.