In the morning of Thursday, September 5, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos said he called President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He wanted to go to Indonesia to get the hunted Alice Guo. He wanted for the police chief to go with him.
“Sige, puntahan ninyo para makuha si Alice Guo (Go, fetch her, so you can get Alice Guo),” Marcos said over the phone, according to Abalos.
The Indonesian police gave them a deadline to get to Jakarta by 1pm, or else they would have to release Guo because they had no basis to hold her any longer.
“Hinahabol namin ni Secretary kasi wala naman siyang kaso, wala siyang kasong kriminal, only contempt. Kaya hinahabol namin kasi sabi ng Indonesian national police, wala silang jurisdiction kasi wala namang criminal case,” said Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Rommel Marbil.
(The Secretary and I were rushing because there was no criminal case against her, only contempt. We were rushing because the Indonesian national police said they had no jurisdiction because she does not have a criminal case.)
When Guo was arrested at a villa in Jakarta on September 4, she only had a Senate arrest warrant out for her for contempt citation. That remained the situation until late afternoon of Thursday when a court in Capas, Tarlac, released buzzer-beating warrant of arrest for Guo for two counts of the criminal charges of graft.
But before that Tarlac warrant, she could have walked free in Indonesia.
“Anong oras namin nalaman [‘yung 1 pm deadline] pa-tanghalian na, kung maghahanap ka ng eroplano papunta ‘dun halos wala na, halos puno na. Pangatlo, mahirap kasi kukuha ka ng special permit kasi may kasama kang naka posas e,” said Abalos.
(We found out about the 1 pm deadline around lunchtime, so if we look for a flight, almost everything was booked. It was also difficult to get a special permit to travel with someone who is handcuffed.)
Abalos said he called in a favor to a friend to get chartered flights back and forth, adding that the government did not spend for the mission. Abalos and Marbil said they had to invoke police-to-police cooperation to move the deadline, which the Indonesian police allowed.
Abalos said the reported prisoner swap deal for Australian national Gregor Johann Haas, wanted in Indonesia for drug smuggling, “was never the basis” for the deportation.
“As far as Indonesia is concerned, it was mentioned that the death penalty for that person, they were not considering. It was never the basis,” said Abalos.
Guo landed past 1 am on Friday, September 6, at a private hangar in Pasay handcuffed and wearing an orange detainee shirt. Guo invoked her right to remain silent, and only gave a few statements about the death threat she said she’d been getting.
“I confirm everything the Secretary said, that I have death threats. Humihingi po ako ng tulong sa kanila, at masaya po akong nakita ko sila, I feel safe (I am asking help from them, and I’m happy I saw them, I feel safe),” said Guo.
Photos of Guo with Abalos, Marbil, and several of the Philippine operatives who were part of the mission, showing them smiling, drew the ire of the public, which condemned what they said was special treatment for someone being linked to massive scamming, torture, trafficking, and money laundering. The accusations against Guo related to shady POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation) are still at the prosecutorial level at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“She felt relieved,” said Abalos, but stopped short of saying if he was able to secure a commitment of cooperation from Guo insofar as naming the big fish behind POGOs, or at least those who helped her flee the country.
“Ang pinayo ko sa kanya, huwag siyang matakot sabihin ‘yung totoo, and we will take care of her security (I advised her not to fear saying the truth, and we will take care of her security),” said the interior chief.
Because there’s now a criminal warrant for graft against Guo, Marbil said the PNP would keep her in custody until such time that she can post bail in Capas, Tarlac. Only when the court receives her P180,000 bail and issues a release order would the PNP turn her over to the Senate, where she has a warrant for contempt. – Rappler.com