MANILA – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday refuted claims that the Indonesian government had requested the Philippines to exchange Gregor Johann Haas, an Australian wanted for drug trafficking, with former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, who was arrested in Indonesia.
“Wala naman nag-swap, nag-swap… Lumabas sa isang article sa Indonesia na dapat mag-swap. Pero hindi official yun,” Marcos Jr. said during a press briefing in Antipolo.
However, the President admitted that Guo’s return to the Philippines was “not simple at all.”
“We were negotiating very intricate, very sensitive and very delicate details for the last, what, maybe 48 hours. Kinakausap natin mga kaibigan natin sa Indonesia, mabuti na lang marami tayong naging kaibigan dahil sa pagpunta-punta ko, pagpunta ko sa ibang mga bansa, Indonesia being one of them at naging malapit kami ni President Jokowi,” Marcos stated.
“Naging bahagi yun kaya’t kahit na hindi ganun kasimple ang pag-transfer, ating napakiusapan naman ang ating mga kaibigan sa Indonesia na bayaan na ang Pilipinas na kunin na siya at ibalik dito sa Pilipinas,” he added.
Alice Guo returned to the Philippines early Friday and faces charges of human trafficking, as well as links to a Chinese-run online gambling hub where individuals were coerced into scams under the threat of torture.
She is also facing charges of graft, money laundering, and human trafficking in connection to a raid on the scam operations in Bamban, Tarlac. Additionally, Guo is wanted by the Philippine Senate for evading hearings related to the scam-farm operations.