Risa denies sinophobia in probe of Bamban mayor

Sen. Risa Hontiveros has rebuffed claims that her Senate panel’s investigation on Bamban Mayor Alice Guo is “sinophobic,” saying her own maternal great-grandmother was Chinese.

- MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB

The senator was reacting to criticisms from the Chinese-Filipino community – led by civic leader Teresita Ang See – that the Senate probe has become a political “zarzuela” bordering on racism against the Chinese.

“I always call out against any form of racism, whether anti-Chinese or other nationalities. No person, Filipino or foreigner, deserves their rights or dignity to be abused because of their heritage,” Hontiveros said over dwPM on Thursday.

She maintained that a deeper look into Guo’s Chinese ancestry was necessary because of allegations that she was an accomplice of fugitives in setting up POGO hub Zun Yuan Technology in Bamban town that was allegedly used in human trafficking, hacking, and scams. The POGO hub was raided recently.

The senator earlier bared that Mayor Guo lied about having a Filipino househelp mother, because her family business records show that her business partners include her father, two siblings, and a certain Lin Wen Yi, allegedly her real Chinese mother.