Guo Huaping stated at the hearing that before leaving the Philippines at the end of July, she had signed a recantation statement regarding her human trafficking case. The document was notarized on August 14 and submitted to the Department of Justice on August 16, a month after Guo Huaping left the Philippines.
Guo Huaping told the senators, "I signed the last page of the document in the first week of July before leaving." When Senator Zhang Qiaowei asked her if she had completed the recantation statement when signing the document, Guo Huaping replied, "Yes, it was partially completed."
Senator Risa Hontiveros presented a sworn statement by Ka Dante at the scene. It is claimed that Ka Dante helped Guo Huaping's staff to notarize the recantation statement. In Ka Dante's sworn statement, he stated that on August 12, Cheryl Ordoña Medina, the executive secretary of Sual town Mayor Liseldo "Dong" Calugay, contacted him to inquire if he knew a notary who could notarize a statement for an unnamed person and requested his assistance in handling the document. Ka Dante agreed to Medina's request, believing that providing help would win the favor of the Sual town government and officials.
On August 13, Ka Dante stated that Medina contacted him to arrange the receipt of the document needing notarization, and he was instructed to go to Concepcion Road in Concepcion town, Danzhen Province, to meet the person notarizing the statement. Medina gave him a phone number for someone named "Kat," who turned out to be Cath Salazar, Guo Huaping's executive secretary, who has been working for Guo Huaping since 2017. Salazar also attended the Senate hearing.
In his sworn statement, Ka Dante mentioned that he arrived at the meeting place around 8:30 AM on August 14 and received a call from Cath, informing him that a person named "Jee" would hand over the document to him. The person referred to by Ka Dante was another secretary of Guo Huaping, Gee Pepito, who admitted to meeting with Ka Dante on August 14 and stated that she had lunch with him as instructed. According to Ka Dante's sworn statement, Gee handed over the document to him around 11:30 AM and informed him that the declarant was Alice Leal Guo. Ka Dante mentioned in his sworn statement that he told Gee the document was unsigned and requested the declarant to sign the document.
Ka Dante's sworn statement read, "Gee walked across the street to a vehicle, asking the passenger to sign the document. The passenger rolled down the window and waved at me. From a distance, I saw that the passenger resembled Mayor Guo Huaping, so I waved back. The passenger then rolled up the window. Gee walked towards me with the signed document, and they then drove away."
According to Ka Dante, he went to the law office of Atty. Elmer Galicia in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan Province, around 12:15 PM on August 14, but the attorney told him that he could not notarize the document without Guo Huaping's presence. Ka Dante stated in his sworn statement, "I called Kat, asking Mayor Guo Huaping to call me back so that Atty. Galicia could confirm that the sworn statement was voluntarily executed by her and that she was still in the Philippines. Guo Huaping assured me and Atty. Galicia that she indeed executed the sworn statement and that she was still in the Philippines."
Guo Huaping's secretary Cath Salazar admitted to the senators that she indeed contacted Medina to seek help with notarizing the document, acting on Guo Huaping's instructions. This admission led Hontiveros to believe that despite Guo Huaping and Calugay's denials of any romantic or business relationship, their relationship was "close," otherwise it would be hard to believe why Calugay would help Guo Huaping so readily, and it seemed that their staff were also very familiar and close to each other.
According to Guo Huaping, the recantation statement notarized on August 14 was prepared by the law firm Gana, Atienza, Avisado. Ray Ann Co, a junior partner at the law firm, was involved in preparing Guo Huaping's recantation statement. Co and Salazar both stated that they did not know Guo Huaping's whereabouts at the time. Salazar added that the complete recantation statement was sent to Guo Huaping via WeChat.
Consequently, Zhang Qiaowei believed that Guo Huaping's lawyers knew that the former mayor would flee the country. Zhang Qiaowei pointed out, "This means her lawyers knew she was leaving, as she had signed the document in advance. The recantation statement was submitted on August 14, but she had signed the last page in the first week of July." In response, Co said, "We were indeed unaware. In fact, we only completed the recantation statement on August 14 and sent it to her secretary that day." Co further stated that they only communicated with Cath Salazar, as their communication with Guo Huaping was "limited," only through phone calls, without any face-to-face interaction."
Hontiveros strongly questioned the professionalism of this behavior by the lawyers, saying, "The format of this sworn statement is just too precise. It seems to be just waiting to attach the signature page at the last moment. Is this how a law firm drafts a recantation statement for a client?"
