Patrizia “Patty” Santos, former chief of staff of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo (Guo Hua Ping), is in the spotlight after seven of Guo’s co-accused surrendered in a human trafficking case linked to an illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator hub.
Reports said that five of the co-accused surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation‘s Central Luzon office, while the remaining two surrendered to the “NBI Task Force Alice Guo,” a group that monitors all developments related to the controversial ex-mayor.
“Sila ang lumalabas na mga responsible doon sa Hongsheng incorporators at sa Zun Yuan incorporators. Lahat ito ay mga masasabi nating mga bogus corporation ni Alice Guo,” NBI Director Jaime Santiago said on Monday, September 23.
The other respondents, who are Chinese nationals, are still at large, he added.
These included Huang Zhiyang, a Chinese fugitive said to be the alleged “boss of all bosses” of illegal POGOs in the country.
Meanwhile, those who surrendered were Jamielyn Santos Cruz, Rachelle Carreon, Roderick Pujante, Juan Alpas, Rita Yturralde, Rowena Evangelista and Thelma Laranan.
The Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 167 previously issued warrants of arrest against Guo and her co-accused for qualified trafficking in persons, which is non-bailable.
The Department of Justice earlier said Guo is particularly culpable under Section 4(l) of the Expanded Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012, which provides that those who organize an establishment that is engaged in human trafficking are just as liable.
According to Santiago, Guo’s co-accused claimed they were all “used.”
“Lahat ang claim nila, nagamit lang sila. Sabi ko nga sa inyo, ‘yung allegations na ‘yun, justification nila sa sarili nila, malalabas ‘yan during trial,” he said.
In another report, some of them claimed they did not know Guo personally. They were reportedly asked by Jeremy Santos to sign a certificate of incorporation.
“Ginamit lang kami dito, pinapirma kami dito ni Jeremy Santos, si Jeremy Santos asawa niya si Patty Santos, chief of staff ni Mayora Alice Guo. Si Jeremy Santos, kapatid niya si Jamielyn Santos. Papatunayan na lang namin,” one of the suspects allegedly said.
Jeremy is said to be the husband of Patty, who used to be identified as “Mommy Patty” or the “Mother of Mayor Alice Leal Guo” on a Bamban webpage.
This was previously questioned by some Filipinos who pointed out that Patty was actually connected to public relations.
RELATED: Birthday greeting for ‘Mommy Patty’ brought up after Alice Guo’s ‘love child’ revelation
The information caught the attention of some Redditors who took note of Patty’s connection with Guo, including the false “Happy Birthday, Mommy Patty” post.
“Remember Alice Guo’s ‘Mommy Patty’?” a Reddit user wrote on September 23.
The Reddit user quoted some parts of the report mentioning Jeremy and asked if anyone knew what “PR firm” Patty works in.
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“Feeling ko kasabwat ‘to ni Guo Hua Ping eh,” another Reddit user commented.
“Based sa napanood ko kanina sa babae na ‘yan, tapos super confident pa, tapos ‘yung mga boys na umiiyak eme, parang nabayaran rin ni Hua Ping. Something fishy sa actions nila,” the user added.
“Damn! You were able to connect the dots,” another Redditor wrote.
Last May, discussions about a deleted webpage of Bamban, Tarlac resurfaced when Guo claimed that she was a “love child” of her father with a supposed househelp.
Guo’s birthday greeting, which called Patty her “mommy,” was mentioned as Filipinos wondered about the former mayor’s questionable background.
Some debunked the post and said that Patty was connected to public relations. A Redditor claimed to have “unfriended” Patty on Facebook after learning that she “posted her support for the mayor.”
A 2023 Facebook post had identified Patty as a Bamban tourism officer before.
She also had the following introduction in her Facebook profile, which has since become unavailable: “I’m anything PR [and] Media.”
The Anti-Money Laundering Council previously said Guo had declared a certain “Wen Yi Lin Leal” as her mother in one of her bank accounts.
In a Special Investors Resident Visa that Guo and her family had used to enter the Philippines before, her registered mother was “Lin Wenyi.”
Guo is being investigated for her alleged links to the raided POGO hub in her town and her sketchy background.
In addition to the trafficking charges, she is also facing graft charges before a Valenzuela Regional Trial Court.
Other cases, such as money laundering and tax evasion, are also expected to be filed against the dismissed mayor.