Philippine ex-mayor Guo says no official aided escape

She denies paying Filipino $4.6m to flee, saying foreigner arranged getaway rides

- Mara Cepeda

Embattled former mayor Alice Guo said no Philippine government official helped her flee the country in July amid ongoing investigations into her alleged ties to Chinese crime syndicates.

Guo, who is believed to be Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, faced the Philippine Senate on Sept 9 for the first time since she was arrested six days earlier in the Indonesian city of Tangerang, near the capital Jakarta.

"No Filipino helped me escape," said Guo, who had evaded Philippine law enforcement agencies by fleeing to Malaysia, Singapore and then Indonesia in mid-July, despite the ongoing investigations.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr had in August vowed that "heads will roll" following Guo's escape.

He fired immigration chief Norman Tansingco while the senate hearing was ongoing on Sept 9, but lawmakers did not address this matter during the hearing.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, who presided over the Sept 9 hearing, asked Guo if she had allegedly paid a government official 200 million pesos (S$4.6 million) to flee the Philippines, citing an unnamed source for that information.

The former mayor denied this and said a foreigner of Asian descent had arranged getaway boat rides for her and her two siblings.

But she refused to give other details, citing threats to her life that senators doubted were true.

Senator Joel Villanueva said: "You did not escape from the Philippines because of the death threats; you escaped from the Philippines because you're trying to run from your cases."

The senate has been investigating Guo since May after the authorities linked her to a now-shutdown online casino, or Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo), which catered to overseas clients who were mostly Chinese.