Probe of PHL seaport, airport security gaps sought
A PHILIPPINE senator has filed a resolution that seeks to investigate gaps in airport and seaport security, after a former town mayor accused of having links with Chinese criminal syndicates and her siblings managed to flee last month.
Senate Resolution No. 1171, which Senator Rafael “Raffy” T. Tulfo filed on Aug. 27, seeks to probe in aid of legislation the effectiveness of immigration processes.
Dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice L. Guo, who has been linked to illegal offshore gaming operators in the country, fled the country amid accusations that she had faked her identify and was actually Chinese. She has denied the accusations.
Her sister, Shiela Guo, on Tuesday told a Senate investigation she and her siblings — Alice and Wesley — had hopped on three different boats to flee the country last month.
“There is an urgent need to identify the gaps in the country’s airports and seaports to ensure that similar incidents are avoided in the future,” Mr. Tulfo said in the resolution.
He also cited the need to go after fugitives using chartered flights and backdoor exits to get in and out of the country.
Fugitives, especially human traffickers, take advantage of ports in Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Palawan and Zambales, he said, citing the Department of Justice’s Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.
Ms. Guo and her siblings left Manila via a five-hour van ride before boarding a small white boat. They then transferred to a bigger fishing boat and moved to another small boat to reach Malaysia.
Government prosecutors on Wednesday filed charges before a Pasay court against Sheila and Cassandra Li Ong, a cohort of the former mayor, for ignoring summonses issued by Congress.
Ms. Guo has been accused of coddling an illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) in Bamban, Tarlac, where she ran and won for the first time as mayor in 2022.
The POGO has been linked to human trafficking and scams. She’s facing an arrest warrant from the Senate for snubbing its hearings on her alleged POGO ties.
Philippine Coast Guard Vice Admiral Rolando K. Punzalan, Jr. told senators on Wednesday the “porous nature” of Manila’s coastlines makes it difficult to inspect every vessel that leaves the country’s 375 entry and exit points.
“The lack of general terminals is a national security threat as passengers of chartered and private flights, as well as their luggage, do not undergo the regular screening process, including X-ray checks,” Mr. Tulfo said. —