By Atty. Howie Calleja
Entering the Philippines on January 12, 2003, as a 13-year-old Chinese using a special investor resident visa (SIRV), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has confirmed via fingerprint analysis that Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac province is a “fake Filipino” whose real identity is Guo Hua Ping.
As such, may I quote Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian as he points out that “Guo Hua Ping’s mockery of Philippine laws should not be taken lightly, and she should be brought to the bar of justice as soon as possible. People like her who assume that being a Filipino can just be bought should be severely punished. We will not stop until there is no more ‘Alice Guo’ who can escape from our laws”.
Now this has been established, we should start to unravel this POGO Politics vis-à-vis all those “High Up the Food Chain”. Metaphorically, outside of the realm of biology, the phrase “top of the food chain” can be used to designate a person, group, or entity that holds a position of power, influence, or control over others, often suggesting a level of superiority or authority. In this case, it implies that the individual or entity in question is at the pinnacle of a particular hierarchy or system, much like a predator at the top of a natural food chain which made this duplicitous proliferation of POGOs in our country possible.
Alice Guo aka Guo Hua Ping has just showed us how corrupt people in public service don’t care about the source of grease money. As long as you pay “in gold”, a foreign alien without the mandatory documents can easily pass through immigration and heaps of illegal drugs can be undulated through customs. Tourist visas can be changed instantly into working or resident alien visas and Philippine citizenship papers can be illegally produced. Our crooked political system allowed Alice Guo to become mayor of Bamban.
Who does Guo serve? This is a more serious question we must all seek to discover, disallow and dismantle. With all the financial resources at her disposal, it is only common sense that Guo has “gamed” our system. So, who are those she has influenced whether in regard to her origins and citizenship or to her election and ties to POGOs or the Philippine offshore gaming operators? Her funds may come from the Chinese government, money launderers, the triad, or a gaming syndicate. Whatever the source may be, this is still a grave concern from whatever angle.
As most people would say, Alice Guo is just the tip of the iceberg. The larger conundrum, however, is this: How many other government officials elected to serve the Filipino people are serving other masters in secret? This coming election cycle, we have to put an end to this, but how? For starters as a suggestion let us make sure our next set of officials both elective and appointive are really pro Filipino and not lip service propose pro Filipino but in reality serve and defend their Chinese masters and worse are Chinese themselves like Mayor Alice .
