Senate panel lifts contempt order against Shiela Guo
MANILA, Philippines – The Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality on Tuesday, September 24 lifted the contempt order against Shiela Guo, the alleged sister of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, who chairs the panel, announced this during the start of the Senate probe into Alice’s fake identity and her ties to illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs in Central Luzon.
“Shiela Guo, the contempt order on you is lifted, and I direct the OSAA [Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms] to transfer your custody to the Bureau of Immigration pursuant to the Mission Order issued by the bureau against you,” Hontiveros said.
Shiela was cited for contempt due to her absence at the Senate probes regarding her connections with POGOs. She was identified as an incorporator in businesses linked to Alice. For one, she is a co-incorporator of Baofu Land Development Incorporated, which leased its land to Hongsheng Gaming Technology Incorporated, later renamed Zun Yuan Technology. This company is the POGO in Bamban that was raided for human trafficking and other alleged violations.
In her defense, Shiela said she was only asked to sign documents related to POGO operations by her sister or other family members.
Sheila faces money laundering charges alongside her sister and other POGO personalities. The Department of Justice has also filed cases against her for disobeying summons issued by the Senate and for violating Republic Act 11983 by using a fake Philippine passport.
Shiela and Cassandra Li Ong, tagged in a POGO operation in Porac, Pampanga, were arrested in Indonesia on August 21. Shiela has been kept in the Senate detention center, while Ong is in the custody of the House of Representatives, where a quad committee is investigating POGOs and other criminal activities. – Rappler.com