NICA: Alice Guo probably fled via PH 'backdoor' to Kota Kinabalu before going to Kuala Lumpur

The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) on Tuesday bared its theory on how dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo could have fled the Philippines and ended up in Indonesia.

At a Senate justice and human rights subcommittee hearing, NICA Director Ferlu Silvio divulged their new theory that Guo and her supposed siblings exited through the so-called "backdoor" in the southern part of the Philippines going to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia before proceeding to Kuala Lumpur where they started their journey to Batam, Indonesia.

According to Silvio, they have found out about Kota Kinabalu when they obtained a copy of a document showing that Shiela Guo - the supposed sister of Alice - entered the city.

"Actually the sister of Alice Guo pumasok siya allegedly…Sheila Guo entered, medyo malabo kasi, dun po sa KK o Kota Kinabalu… Meron po doon sa aming nakuha, medyo malabo nga lang, but nakikita doon Kinabalu. So, we presume na ang jump off point from the Philippines is Kota Kinabalu," Silvio said.

"Possibly, from KK then to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and there from KLIA 1 to Singapore Airport, Changi and then, nag-ferry na po sila from Singapore to Batam Indonesia… Confirmed na po yun. As to the question of how Alice Guo was able to leave the Philippines, ito po yung gaps na tinitingnan po namin," he added.

Silvio explained that in Kota Kinabalu, there are "many points" and airports in the eastern part of Sabah where the Guo siblings could travel from.

In line with the Kota Kinabalu theory, the NICA official mentioned that there were two groups of trafficked Filipinas who were intercepted in Semporna and Tawau in Malaysia in 2022.

"From Kota Kinabalu, marami pong points doon, airports ang eastern part ng Sabah — it’s from Sandakan to Tawau area, that’s the boundary na po ng Indonesia. So marami po doon. Ito ron po yun ruta ng iba po nating mga kababayan na na-traffic," he said.

Compared to Kota Kinabalu, Silvio noted that individuals passing through Sabah-- which was mentioned as one of the possible drop off points of the Guo siblings from the Philippines-- would need to go through the immigration regardless if you are a local or a foreigner.

With the exit point from the Philippines still a mystery to authorities, NICA assumed the Guo siblings departed from "Tawi-Tawi area."

Silvio mentioned this possibility by citing the case during the pandemic where the Department of Foreign Affairs used the Sabah to Zamboanga sea route to repatriate Filipinos.

"DFA calls it transfer of our kababayans from Sabah back to Zamboanga. So average ho ng bawat sail ng barko is 400 to 500. Ganon ho karami. So imagine po natin kung ganon karami ang naipapabalik sa Pilipinas, madali po talagang ipuslit sila from Zamboanga, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi area," he said.

Zamboanga is usually the jump off point of passengers from the main island of Mindanao to Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi -- the three provinces located at the southernmost tip of the Philippines.

Although the Bureau of Immigration told the Senate panel that they had no information on the Guos' exit point from the Philippines at the early part of the hearing, BI Intelligence Division chief Fortunato Manahan said the bureau "has the same theory" as NICA.

"There was a discussion and meeting held last year and I’m also on board in the meeting and discussion. Yung nabanggit po ni Sir kanina na theory, BI also has the same theory as stated by the gentleman from the NICA," Manahan said.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, chairman of the subcommittee, then asked Manahan to confirm if the BI thinks that the "most probable jump off point" of Guo was Tawi-Tawi.

"Madam chair, yes. By sea," Manahan said.

Hontiveros asked again: "By sea? And then nakarating sila sa Kuala Lumpur International airport by plane?"

Mahanan said the Guos passing through Kuala Lumpur International Airport is "still a mystery."

This was refuted by the senator, saying that Guo's arrival in Kuala Lumpur International Airport was confirmed by her Malaysian sources.

"No, actually, that’s the only thing we know for sure now. Meron po tayong pruweba na stamp verified by my offices... Malaysian sources na genuine na the stamp at KL International Airport Terminal 1, apparently, is genuine. Yun lang ang alam natin for sure sa hindi ko maintindihan bakit napaka misteryosong pagtakas na ito," she said.

Manahan countered that the stamp might be "erroneously done."

"Fully agree, Madam Chair. Though the stamp might be legit, but how it was stamped may be erroneously done," he said.

In October 2024, BI Commissioner Joel Viado said Guo entered Malaysia via a flight that landed on July 18, 2024.

When asked if this means that the Guos' claims that they left the country via boat are false, Viado said authorities “may presume that.”

The BI chief said there was no record of Guo’s entry into Sabah on July 19.

“If she went to Malaysia via sea it might have been through Sabah and there’s no record of entry of Alice Guo into Sabah,” said the Immigration official.

At the end of the hearing, Hontiveros gave the BI an ultimatum of 15 days to provide satisfactory answers on the panel's question with regard to Guo's departure from the Philippines.

"The Bureau of Immigration cannot be this inutile. To Commissioner Viado of the Bureau of Immigration, with all due respect, please consider this an ultimatum," she said.

"If no satisfactory answers on these matters are provided by the BI within 15 days- as designated chair of this Subcommittee of the Committee of Justice, I will call for a revamp of the BI in the committee report of this subcommittee. A revamp starting from the Commissioner himself," she added. — RF, GMA Integrated News