Real identity of Bamban mayor a national security concern: Estrada

SENATE president pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada believes the Committee on Women probe on the ills of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators industry has not been sidetracked because the panel is trying to establish the real identity of Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, which is a national security concern.

“Of course, you also have to establish the credibility of the person and because it is also a national security concern. Kung talagang Chinese citizen ‘yan (if she is a Chinese citizen), how did she run as mayor?” Estrada said in a phone interview with the Senate media yesterday.

Estrada made the remark after Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III, last Monday, said the committee should re-focus its investigation on the bad effects of the POGO industry on the country.

Pimentel said the investigation being conducted by the panel chaired by Sen. Risa Hontiveros seemed to have been sidetracked by the controversy on the identity of Guo.

Estrada said he has received information that another town mayor, who reportedly is in a relationship with Guo, is running a POGO firm. He did not identify the official.

He clarified that he is not interested in Guo’s love life, adding what he wants to know is if the other mayor is running the POGO business.

“I don’t care about their relationship. What I’m after is that he allegedly runs their POGO business. That’s the only thing I am concerned about, not their relationship,” he said.

Estrada said he also asked the committee to invite to the next hearing Angelito Guo, the father of Mayor Guo, so he could shed light on his daughter’s real identity. The next hearing has yet to be scheduled.

“Who is his real wife? If the mother of Alice Guo is Chinese, then she is a Chinese because her father is Chinese,” Estrada said, adding he would be forced to ask the committee to issue a subpoena if Mayor Guo’s father refuses to attend the hearing.

Sen. Joel Villanueva said the committee should proceed with its hearings since there is an allegation that Mayor Guo’s family has alleged links with the Communist Party of China, citing news articles and intelligence reports.

Villanueva said that Guo, as the mayor of Bamban, should be held