EDITORIAL - How did they escape?

The story has faded from the headlines, but Filipinos would still want to know how Alice Guo and her purported siblings Shiela and Wesley managed to flee the country in July last year.

Finding out how the Guos escaped could expose the weaknesses that allowed it to happen, and identify and hold accountable those who helped them escape.

At a hearing of the Senate committee on justice and human rights yesterday, Sen. Risa Hontiveros raised a valid point: seven months after the three escaped, the government still has not validated Alice Guo’s story, as told to the Senate on Sept. 9 last year.

Guo, facing the committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, said she and her siblings traveled to Manila where they boarded a small white boat, which seemed to be a yacht. They transferred to a bigger vessel that appeared to be a fishing boat, and again transferred a few days later to a smaller boat that brought them to Malaysia.

Multiple government agencies have offices around the Port of Manila. There are supposed to be patrols by state forces around Manila Bay, including the Manila Yacht Club where the yachts dock. How hard is it to find out where the Guos boarded the “white boat” and who facilitated the escape?

The Bureau of Immigration could only tell Hontiveros yesterday that BI personnel had no hand in the escape.

At the same hearing, Hontiveros lamented the escape of three Chinese POGO bosses wanted in their country. Lyu Xun, Kong Xiangrui and Wang Shangle reportedly escaped during a layover in Hong Kong en route to China following their deportation from the Philippines.

Authorities are also still trying to piece together how former presidential spokesman Harry Roque ended up in the Middle East as the House of Representatives ordered his arrest and detention for contempt. Roque has reportedly been spotted in Macau and Japan. The BI said he tried to leave for the US from Japan.

The nation must find out how people wanted in the Philippines and in other countries manage to slip past border controls. Uncovering what happened will allow the leaks in the system to be plugged. This can prevent impunity and more escapes.