Malaysian gov’t refusing to cooperate in probe of ex-Bamban Mayor’s escape, Remulla says
THE MALAYSIAN government is withholding information about the travel history of a former Bamban mayor, who escaped from Philippine authorities in July amid investigations into alleged illegal activities linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), the Philippine justice secretary said on Wednesday.
“The case of Alice Guo is a very peculiar case because Malaysia refused to cooperate with us,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla told reporters in a briefing.
“Malaysia is supposed to give us the information. They know what flight entered, what aircraft entered, and where she was riding, but they refused to give it to us,” he added.
The Malaysian Embassy is currently obtaining the necessary information in relation to Mr. Remulla’s claims, Malaysian Ambassador Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino Anthony said in a WhatsApp message.
Ms. Guo is accused of having ties to Chinese criminal syndicates and money laundering linked to POGOs.
She and her cohorts escaped in July but was deported after her arrest in Jakarta on Sept. 4, 2024. Her travel records showed she fled to Malaysia and Singapore, before arriving in Indonesia, using her Philippine passport.
Mr. Remulla noted the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs had already “done everything” to negotiate with Kuala Lumpur, but they had “faced a stone wall.”
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony M. Viado, in a Senate hearing on Tuesday, alleged Ms. Guo used Tawi-Tawi as a backdoor exit as she left no records of her leaving the Philippines.
National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director Ferlu J. Silvio had likewise said that she and her companions might have fled the country through Tawi-Tawi since it was much nearer to countries like Malaysia.
The Justice chief said one of the reasons for their refusal to cooperate may be due to an arbitration ruling in favor of Malaysia, which the Philippine government has not implemented.
This ruling is in connection with a Sabah dispute between the heirs of a former sultan of Sulu and the Malaysian government.
France’s highest civil court last Nov. 6, 2024, rejected the appeal of the heirs of a former sultan who sought almost $15 billion from Malaysia over an 1878 land deal, according to a Nov. 7 report by Reuters.
The heirs initially won the arbitration case in 2022 but were denied enforcement by a Paris court.
“As a matter of policy, we don’t interfere in the case. It is the heirs of the sultan of Sulu who are in that case, but they want us to implement the case, which we’re not doing,” Mr. Remulla said. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
