Ex-PNP chiefs deny link to Alice Guo

THE former heads of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday denied receiving payoffs from former Bamban mayor Alice Guo. Former PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. denied any link to Guo or to Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs). "The PNP is facing so many issues and challenges now; such an irresponsible statement coming from BGen. Raul Villanueva is baseless, preposterous and unfounded," Azurin said in a statement. Azurin was the 28th PNP chief. Villanueva, Philippine Amusement Gaming Corp. vice president for security, on Tuesday told a Senate panel investigating POGOs that there were rumors in the intelligence community about a former chief PNP who is under Guo's payola. "All I can say is his statement should be clarified. He should identify the individual," Azurin said. Former PNP chief Benjamin Acorda Jr. echoed Azurin's statement. "The integrity of the former chief of PNP is at stake. The statement is sweeping and is unfair for the innocent," Acorda said. Gen. Oscar Albayalde also denied knowing the former Bamban mayor. "Never kong na-encounter or na-meet si Alice Guo (I never met or encountered Alice Guo," Albayalde said. The Philippine National Police said it would continue to investigate the matter. Meanwhile, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director General Ricardo de Leon said the agency has "not monitored" the former PNP chief who allegedly received monthly payola from Guo. Villanueva told the Senate panel investigating Guo's alleged link to illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators that he cannot identify the former PNP official since the information has yet to be confirmed. "From our agency, we have not monitored the exact name [of the] mentioned by General Villanueva," de Leon said, who was at the Senate to defend NICA's proposed 2025 budget. "So, I cannot comment on that. I'll get the information from him (Villanueva) first. But insofar as we are concerned, we are very careful about validating [any intelligence information]," he said. Pressed that the concerned unidentified PNP chief was being talked about in the intelligence community, de Leon, in Filipino, said, "As I said, there's no such thing." "I don't even know this person who was supposedly being talked about in the intelligence community," he added. De Leon said that NICA is not investigating anyone at the moment with regard to individuals who protect Guo. "If we receive any information [of national concern], then we validate. That's how we operate," de Leon said. Villanueva made the revelation when Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairman of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, asked whether there were high-ranking officials who helped Guo escape in July. "I don't have the name. [But] there were some rumors in the intelligence community that a former chief PNP [was helping her]. The intelligence community is still confirming it," he said in Filipino and English. "But I cannot confirm that, Ma'am, because I'm outside of the loop lately because we're busy helping the law enforcement agencies running after the illegal POGOs in the countryside or in the provinces," Villanueva told Hontiveros.