MANILA, Philippines – Katherine Cassandra Ong, tied to a Porac, Pampanga Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO), and Sheila Guo, dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo’s sister, arrived in the country from Indonesia on Thursday afternoon, August 22.
The two arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 1 past 5 pm on Thursday via Philippine Airlines flight PR 540 from Jakarta.
Ong and Guo were nabbed in Indonesia and placed under the custody of Indonesian immigration authorities. The House of Representatives, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed the two’s detention on Thursday.
Philippine authorities left the country on Thursday to pick up the two.
Guo is covered by a Senate arrest order issued by the legislative’s upper chamber against her and her siblings due to their absences during Senate hearings on POGOs. Ong, meanwhile, was ordered arrested by the House after she was cited in contempt last week for snubbing the lower chamber’s inquiry into POGOs. Ong is also under the immigration’s lookout bulletin for being a person of interest due to her POGO ties.
In a statement, Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the agency coordinated with its Indonesian counterpart after the Guos and Ong left the country. He said the Indonesian Inteldakim Officer of the Batam Immigration Office received the copy of their report and initiated a probe into the four’s whereabouts.
Philippine authorities claimed Indonesians arrested Ong and Guo on the basis of being “illegal aliens because they were wanted in the Philippines,” according to Tansingco. But there were no court warrants against either of them — only the arrest orders from the Senate and House of Representatives.
On Thursday afternoon, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission Spokesperson Winston Casio said there was a request for an Interpol blue notice between Philippine and Indonesian immigration officials. It remained unclear what mechanism was used for the Indonesian arrest as Interpol notices are based on judicial warrants. The warrants for Ong and Guo were only legislative warrants for contempt.
In addition, a blue notice is used to “collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation,” and not for arrest or detention.
On Monday, August 19, opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros revealed that the dismissed mayor had already left the country as early as July 18.
Hontiveros said Guo met with her father Guo Jian Zhong, mother Lin Wen Yi, her brother Wesley, and Ong in Singapore. Citing intelligence information, Tansingco said Ong’s group was assisted by a Singaporean man who booked their stay in Indonesia.
Ong, known either as Cassy Ong or Cassy Li, has ties to the Lucky South 99 POGO in Porac, Pampanga. House lawmakers said former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque “effectively” lawyered for Whirlwind Corporation, the real estate firm that leased its land to Lucky South. Back in June, authorities said the Lucky South 99’s POGO hubs were hotbeds for various illicit activities, including human trafficking, forced labor, and various scam activities.
Meanwhile, Sheila’s sister faces a string of allegations, including trafficking and tax evasion complaints pending before the DOJ. There are also pending petitions seeking the cancellation of the dismissed mayor’s birth certificate, as well as a quo warranto that aims to remove the former official’s Filipino citizenship.
Malacañang has also ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs to cancel Guo’s passport. – Rappler.com