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File photoon datedA4) July 27, 2016 shows President Duterte during a National Security Council meeting attended by four former presidents (Story including (from left) Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Fidel V. Ramos and Benigno Aquino III. Presidential Spokesman Harry
PBBM ORDERS DAM WATCH AS ENTENG LEAVES 15 DEAD, NEARLY 500K DISPLACED Roque says Malacanang is inclined to ask the four ex-presidents to attend a meeting on issues besetting the West Philippine Sea. NSC file
By Charles Dantes and Rio Araja THE Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported on Wednesday that the death toll from Tropical Storm “Enteng” has increased to 15, with 21 individuals still missing, and almost half a million individuals displaced in its wake.
As “Enteng” moved away from the country, President Ferdinand Marcos directed concerned agencies to prepare for possible flooding due to the release of water from dams which have filled up because of heavy rains from the southwest monsoon. Next page
PBBM JUNKS KOJC LEADER’S DEMANDS NEWS / A2
REP. MIDY CUA: QUIRINO’S CHAMP
AERIAL VIEW. President Ferdinand Marcos takes to the sky to check the extent of the damage caused by the typhoon in Metro Manila and Rizal province. #EntengPH. PCO
MY DISTRICT / A3
President warns other fugitives: You will face same fate as Alice Guo By Charles Dantes, Maricel Cruz, and Macon Ramos-Araneta
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 202• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2024 •
POGO-linked Guo arrested in Indonesia
PRESIDENT Marcos issued a stern warning to fugitives that they will soon be brought to justice following the arrest of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, also known as Gua Hua Ping, in Jakarta yesterday. “Let this serve as a warning to
those who attempt to evade justice. Such is an exercise in futility. The arm of the law is long and it will reach you,” President Marcos said. Guo was apprehended in Tangerang City, Indonesia, around 1 a.m. on Sept. 4. Other high-profile fugitives include Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who is Next page
NBI: Ex-mayor may be deported within the week By Pot Chavez, Vince Lopez and Joel Zurbano
D
ISMISSED Bamban mayor Alice Guo, allegedly a Chinese national known as Guo Hua Ping, was arrested by Indonesian authorities in Tangerang City, Jakarta late Tuesday evening. Guo, who was accused of being a Chinese spy and having links to Chinese organized crime through POGOs, is expected to be deported to Manila within the week, the National Bureau of Investigation said. “Maybe tomorrow (Thursday) or the day after tomorrow, we can bring Alice back here. She will first go straight to the Bureau of Immigration for immigration violations… then she will be turned over to the NBI to process her criminal charges and only then will we forward her to the Senate,” NBI Director Jaime Santiago said.
Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty said Guo’s brother, Wesley, is likely in Hong Kong. “[Bureau of Immigration] Commissioner Tansingco said he is already coordinating with his counterparts in Hong Kong,” Ty said. Guo was apprehended at 11:58 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Sr. Supt. Audie Latuheru of the Indonesian Police. Guo has been on the run since being linked to an illegal POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac where hundreds of people were forced to run scams or risk torture
Powerful people connect POGOs, drug trafficking and EJKs — Quad Comm heads By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta
involving drug trafficking, POGOS, and extra-judicial killings,” the Committee on Public Safety chair said. “The fact that several key personalities of POGO corporations have managed to evade the long arm of the law speaks volumes of the power they wield and the resources at their disposal,” he added. Fernandez noted that the commitChitee has firmly established that Chi nese nationals obtained Filipino citizenship by fraudulent means, and then proceeded to acquire busivast landholdings through busi nesses disguised as Filipinoowned corporations. “In the course of our inquiry, I believe that one thing will eventually be made clear: that drug money is the source of POGO money, and that POGO money is a source inof criminal activities, in
THE House Quad-Committee’s muchanticipated hearings continue to expose how a cabal of “powerful people” connects Philippine Overseas Gaming Operators (POGOs), drug trafficking, extrajudicial killings, and a host of other illegal activities. Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez began Wednesday’s session by pointing out that the true masterminds behind such crimes remain seemingly beyond the law’s grasp. “By now, there can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that powerful people are behind this large-scale, multi-billion peso criminal enterprise CASSANDRA LI ONG
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GOTCHA. Indonesian authorities arrest dismissed Bambam, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo in Tangerang, Indonesia at at 11:58 p.m. Tuesday (Jakarta time). Credit: PNP/ NBI and being accused of being a Chinese national masquerading as a Filipino in order to run for office. She is also wanted by the Senate for refusing to attend hearings on her alleged ties to the POGO scam farm operations in Bamban.
Guo, who insisted she is a naturalborn Filipino, has denied accusations of being a Chinese spy and having links to illegal POGO operations, calling them “malicious.” Jakarta’s law minister said Guo will be deported to Manila but the timing
“depends on the police investigation results.” “Indonesia tagged Guo as an illegal alien since they know that she is a fugitive here in the Philippines, then there was also a misrepresentation of her Next page
Marcos laughs off health scare rumor, tittle-tattle traced to ex-Palace insiders By Charles Dantes PRESIDENT Marcos brushed aside rumors that he had been hospitalized, calling them “fake news” and assuring the public that he is in good health. “I’m here. Do I look sick? That’s what we need to watch out for, those
kinds of fake news unless it comes from a credible source,” he told reporters at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) office in Camp Aguinaldo Wednesday morning. The President said he received numerous concerned calls from friends asking about his condition.
Mr. Marcos also confirmed that he was at Malacañang Palace the previous day, where he had a busy schedule. "'Kalokohan lang ‘yan' (That’s just nonsense)," was how the President summed up the latest chatter to come out of the rumor mill. Next page
No word from VP Sara since she resigned — PBBM By Charles Dantes PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revealed that communication between him and Vice President Sara Duterte has ceased since she resigned from the Cabinet on June 19. “There’s no communication. No, none at all. None at all. The last time I spoke to her was when she handed me her resignation. We haven’t spoken since,” Mr. Marcos said in an inter-
view. The relationship between the President and Vice President soured after the former had a word war with the latter’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte. The Vice President said she regretted campaigning for Mr. Marcos to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) in the 2022 elections. She then issued an apology to KOJC members, following police operations in the KOJC com-
pound to arrest fugitive pastor Apollo Quiboloy. “That’s her prerogative... I still don’t understand why. That is her wish, there’s nothing we can do,” Mr. Marcos said of the Vice President’s move. The Chief Executive also addressed speculation surrounding recent budget hearings on the Office of the Vice President (OVP), dismissing any political Next page