Marcos: Photos with Guo prove nothing

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., on Saturday, said that resurfacing photos of himself with Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo “proves nothing” as lots of similar photos were taken during his campaign.

“You know many how many pictures I take during a campaign? Siguro isang libo isang araw. Lahat naman ng humihingi ng selfie hindi ko hinihindian,” Marcos said during an ambush interview.

(Do you know how many pictures of me are taken during a campaign? It’s probably a thousand a day. I do not reject anyone who asks me for a selfie.)

Meanwhile, the President emphasized that investigations on Guo and her possible involvement in a defunct POGO installation had just begun.

“We have a ways to go dahil talagang hinahanap natin kung ano ba talaga ang totoo. (We have a ways to go because we’re looking for the truth). And as I said, there is also an ongoing investigation by the Senate. So,  let’s allow the executive side and the legislative side to do the work and continue our investigation… Wala pang definite na conclusions,  (There are still no definite conclusions)” he explained.

On May 7, the Senate Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality Committee launched an investigation into a raided POGO hub in Bamban, which Senator Risa Hontiveros said may have been possibly involved in surveillance activities and even the hacking of several government websites.

Guo, who attended the hearing, was questioned over information linking her to the operations of the scam hub.

Hontiveros, in a separate press conference, asked Guo about her citizenship, as the mayor allegedly had no official records to prove she was a Filipino.

A "24 Oras" report said that Guo, at her proclamation rally on April 2, 2022, declared she was a Filipino citizen.

"Ako po si Alice Guo, taga Barangay Virgen delos Remedios. Ang nanay ko po ay Pilipina. Ang tatay ko po ay isang Chinese," Guo said then.

(I am Alice Guo from Barangay Virgen delos Remedios. My mother is a Filipina. My father is Chinese.)

"Ako po ay isang Filipino citizen at may pusong Bamban," she told the campaign crowd.

(I am a Filipino citizen with a heart for Bamban.)

Last Friday, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) recommended that the Ombudsman preventively suspend Guo.

In a statement, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said the DILG created a task force on April 5 to look into Guo's alleged link to the illegal activities of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in her town.

Abalos said the task force had submitted its report, and this, in turn, was submitted to the Ombudsman on Friday.

Guo rejected accusations she abetted the alleged illegal activities at the POGO facility, which included human trafficking and illegal detention.

“I  deny in the strongest terms all of these allegations of criminal conduct — or at least, allegations that I have somehow aided and abetted the supposedly Zun Yuan Technology Inc.,” she said.

“Human trafficking, torture, and illegal detention are heinous crimes that I never, ever tolerate, much less be involved in,” said Guo.

The mayor added she welcomed any investigation by the proper authorities at the proper forum. — DVM, GMA Integrated News