Risa denies sinophobia in probe of Bamban mayor

MANILA, Philippines — 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.

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.

This makes Mayor Guo a pure Chinese, but with false registration records and candidacy documents where she declared herself Filipino.

Hontiveros also presented a Bureau of Internal Revenue document showing the birthdays of the Guo family business incorporators. The document reveals that Guo’s father Jian Zhong Guo has a 13-year age gap from the alleged mother Lin Wen Yi. Based on such information, it would seem that Lin Wen Yi gave birth to Mayor Guo when she was just 15 years old, and to the eldest Shiela at just 13.

In a separate press briefing on Thursday, Sen. Loren Legarda also raised alarm over Guo’s late birth certificate registration, at 19 years old. Her murky childhood raised suspicions that she was a planted Chinese asset who was able to infiltrate the government.

“I don’t want to pass judgement. You’ve seen it in movies. This is not new. It’s sinister enough to plant foreign nationals to pretend to be Filipinos, and to govern a small town, and have illegal activities