Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Liseldo Calugay admitted his friendship with Guo Hua Ping, otherwise known as Alice Guo, but denied any romantic connection between them.
In Tuesday’s Senate committee hearing surrounding the disgraced Bamban mayor, Calugay repeatedly disagreed with the questions on their supposed link beyond friendship.
Committee chairperson Sen. Risa Hontiveros presented photos of Guo and Calugay in a campaign event of Guo in 2022.
“We were only friends,” Calugay said. He later claimed that the matching t-shirts they wore in the caravan were provided by Cheryl Medina, his executive assistant.
Hontiveros questioned him on the photos presented, which were released as official photos issued by the town during the campaign trail.
The Sual mayor explained he was invited by Guo to join her campaign sorties. By the same token, he also invited her to his victory parade.
“(On the photo) where I was inside the vehicle, it was the motorcade when I invited her (on the victory caravan) because she also invited me at the time she won,” he revealed to the committee.
When asked about their exchange of invitations, Calugay maintained that it was a simple gesture of reciprocity between him and Guo.
“She only graced my invitation because I was there when I was asked to come to her motorcade,” he said, retaining his position as them being friends.
Senator Jinggoy Estrada quizzed Calugay on their connection beyond their friendship, considering their matching t-shirts, a behavior commonly observed between couples.
“This was (taken on) your birthday, right? You were still wearing it, or you couldn’t take that shirt bearing her (Alice Guo) name?” the senator asked.
Estrada also presented photos bearing the couple shirts, colored white and blue respectively, that they wore on their campaign posters.
Calugay denied all accusations and insinuations, claiming that the shirts they wore in the photos were just coincidental.
Senator Joel Villanueva said questions were “too childish” as he tried to corner Calugay on point about their supposed link.
“Let’s cut to the chase. Do you have a relationship with Alice? Do you like her? … Aren’t you lovers in POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators)? Do you have a bank account or business together?” he asked. Calugay denied all of these.
Hontiveros emphasized that, in order to expose their connection, questions about their relationship were served first that she wished for him to answer truthfully. Guo and Calugay also allegedly own several businesses together, according to documents presented at the panel.
“To tell you honestly, our earlier questions could have been answered directly. I actually don’t care about your romantic relationship. We are interested in the possibility of a criminal relationship,” she told Calugay.
The Sual mayor was suspected of aiding Guo and her siblings when they escaped the Philippines sometime in July. Based on the ongoing Senate probe, it was Calugay who ordered his staff to help Guo find a lawyer that would notarize her counter-affidavits after she left the country.
