A video on YouTube is claiming that a Bureau of Immigration (BI) official has been apprehended over the illegal departure of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo from the country. This is false.
The 18-minute video never substantiated its own false headline. No immigration official has been fired or detained over Guo’s getaway. The investigation into how she was able to escape is still ongoing.
Published on Aug. 20, the video carried the following clickbait headline:
“KAKAPASOK LANG KOMPIRMADO na! MAYOR ALICE GUO KASABWAT sa PAGTAKAS, huli Opisyal ng IMIGRATION dawit
(Just in, it’s confirmed! Mayor Alice Guo’s accomplice in her escape, an immigration official, has been caught)”
The following text can also be read on the video’s thumbnail:
“IKAW PALA ANG NAGPATAKAS. ALICE GUO NAKAPUSLIT NA, NALUSOTAN (sic) SI HONTIVEROS (So you’re the one who let her escape. Alice Guo broke free, got through [Sen. Risa] Hontiveros)”
This is not true. Since the reported departure of Guo on July 18, no arrests have been made, and nobody has been identified as being responsible for her escape.
In an Aug. 20 statement, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said their agency has reason to suspect that the dismissed mayor was able to fly out of the country without going through the mandatory immigration checks by local authorities.
He said Guo’s departure was not recorded in the BI’s system and centralized database and no agency has made a report about her escape.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said those involved in the illegal exit of Guo will face the full extent of the law.
“I am issuing this final warning against erring BI personnel who may have had a participation in the escape of Guo despite strict restrictions imposed by our government, it’s either you come out and unveil the truth or wait until I personally get to the bottom of this where heads will roll and all hell will break loose,” he said in an Aug. 20 statement.
This false claim emerged after Sen. Risa Hontiveros received information from the National Bureau of Investigation that Guo has been out of the country since July 18, first landing in Malaysia then Singapore.
YouTube channel KABAYAN NEWS PH (created on April 29, 2020) published the spurious video, garnering over 36,000 views and 600 online interactions. The video could have reached over 123,000 YouTube users.
