SENT BACK. Sheila Guo and Cassandra Li Ong (right, partially hidden) arrive from Jakarta at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 on Thursday (Aug. 22, 2024). The two were sent back to the Philippines after the Indonesian authorities arrested them on Wednesday (Aug. 21). (Photo courtesy of BI)
MANILA – Sheila Leal Guo, sister of dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, and Cassandra Li Ong, incorporator of a raided Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) in Pampanga, arrived in the country on Thursday.
Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Sheila and Ong arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 at around 5 p.m. on board Philippine Airlines flight PR 540 from Jakarta.
They were escorted by operatives of the BI’s Intelligence Division (ID) and Fugitive Search Unit (FSU).
Tangsingco said they immediately coordinated with their counterparts in Indonesia upon learning that the Sheila and Ong as well as Alice and her brother Wesly Guo traveled to Batam, Indonesia on Aug. 18.
The Indonesian Inteldakim Officer of the Batam Immigration Office received the copy of the report and initiated an investigation on the group’s whereabouts.
“They were considered illegal aliens by Indonesian immigration as they are wanted in the Philippines,” he said in a statement.
Intelligence information showed that the group was assisted by a Singaporean man who booked their stay in Indonesia.
They were allegedly about to depart Batam Island when the Indonesian investigation team from the Directorate of Wasdakim intercepted them and initiated their return to the Philippines.
Tansingco immediately ordered the arrest of Sheila Guo for being an illegal alien, while Ong charged by the National Bureau of Investigation.
Both are now at the BI main office in Manila for medical examination and inquest. (PNA)
