By Wilnard Bacelonia
MANILA – Former Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo and former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque are suspected of having used the same backdoor exit in Tawi-Tawi province to flee the Philippines undetected, Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said Tuesday.
“Alice Guo most likely left the country via a backdoor exit and may have entered Sabah by crossing from Tawi-Tawi,” Viado said during a Senate inquiry.
“Why do we think she used the backdoor exit? The country has a porous border with a coastline of 36,289 kilometers, difficult to monitor the whole stretch,” he added.
Viado further linked Guo’s escape to Roque’s suspicious departure, noting that the former Palace official was sighted at the Tawi-Tawi airport on Sept. 2, 2024, at around 9:30 a.m.
“It was verified and confirmed that he was not sighted within the town of Bongao after the initial sighting in the airport,” he said.
“Eventually, on Sept. 4, 2024, Atty. Roque arrived in the United Arab Emirates, as confirmed by the Philippine Ambassador to the UAE. Since Mr. Roque has no recorded departure in the BI’s records, he likely took the same route as Alice Guo in leaving the country by using a backdoor exit in Tawi-Tawi,” he said.
BI investigators believe both Guo and Roque bypassed official airport security by taking an illegal maritime route from Tawi-Tawi to Sabah, Malaysia – a well-known backdoor escape used by undocumented travelers.
A 2024 study by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) found that traffickers prefer sea routes due to stricter security measures at international airports.
The study also noted that locals in the Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi (ZAMBASULTA) region have historically traveled to Sabah without passport clearance due to cultural and economic ties.
Viado admitted that the BI has no presence in many private wharves and ports, making these locations high-risk points for illegal departures. (PNA)
