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Alice Guo, Philippines Mayor linked to Chinese crime is out of sight

Writer's picture: AfriHKaAfriHKa

Photo: Facebook


Alice Guo, the mayor of a small town in the Philippines who was once accused of being a Chinese spy has been out of sight, officials said.


According to the report, police could not go ahead with a warrant for the arrest of the accused mayor over the weekend as she was not located at any of her known addresses.


In March, scam centres were discovered in Ms Guo's town of Bamban concealed in online casinos that cater to mainland Chinese.


Alice Guo had been questioned on her Chinese parentage and suspicions that she was working as a spy for Beijing.


Ms Guo's case has gripped the nation as Manila and Beijing continue to spar over reefs and outcrops in the South China Sea.


The Senate ordered the arrest of Ms Guo and some members of her family last Friday after she twice snubbed summons to appear in hearings on the scam centres.


"Show yourselves. Hiding will not erase the truth," Senator Risa Hontiveros, who is leading parliament's investigation on Ms Guo, said in a statement.


However, Ms Guo has denied wrongdoing. She claims her Chinese father and Filipina mother raised her on their pig farm.


But Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who is part of the investigation, claims Ms Guo is a Chinese national whose real name is Guo Hua Ping, based on immigration records.


"She is hiding to evade arrest," Mr Gatchalian told local radio. "Our tracker teams will continue looking for her."


On the day the arrest warrant was signed, Ms Guo posted a statement on Facebook, addressing her constituents and alluding to the fact that she would not be around.


"Sorry for not being physically present with each one of you. I miss you all," she said, adding her absence would be "temporary".


In the post, she added that she did not regret joining politics, even if it hurt her so much that she "almost lost myself".


"I am a Filipino with a big heart for Bamban. I love the Philippines very much," she said.


Ms Guo's lawyer, Nicole Jamilla, told local television that her client would "definitely" cooperate with official investigations.


Aside from the investigation by the Senate, Ms Guo is the subject of a separate anti-graft probe that has led to her suspension.


The scam centres in Bamban have underscored how online casinos or Pogos (Philippine Online Gaming Operations) have been used as cover for text scams, human trafficking and other criminal activities.


Crime rings hiding beneath Pogos have even gone to the extent of building hospitals that provide cosmetic surgery to fugitives who want new faces.


Pogos flourished during the tenure of Rodrigo Duterte, whose presidency, which ended in 2022, was marked by close ties to China.


But under current president Ferdinand Marcos, Pogos have come under scrutiny.


If proven that she is a Chinese citizen, Ms Guo would not be eligible to serve as mayor. Only Filipino citizens are allowed to hold elective office.


But this does not matter to her constituents who benefit from her social outreach programmes, which are widely documented on her social media pages.


Ms Guo "brought change" to Bamban, and its people are thankful, resident Erica Miclat told ANC television.



與中國犯罪有關的菲律賓市長郭愛麗已淡出人們的視野



官員稱,曾被指控為中國間諜的菲律賓一個小鎮的市長郭愛麗已經消失在人們的視線中。


據報道,警方無法在周末對被指控的市長發出逮捕令,因為她在任何已知地址都沒有找到。


今年三月,郭女士所在的班班鎮發現了詐騙中心,這些中心隱藏在面向中國大陸的線上賭場中。


郭愛麗因她的中國血統而受到詢問,並懷疑她為北京擔任間諜。


隨著馬尼拉和北京繼續圍繞南中國海的珊瑚礁和露頭發生爭執,郭女士的案件引起了全國的關注。


上週五,在郭女士兩次拒絕出席詐騙中心聽證會的傳票後,參議院下令逮捕郭女士及其部分家人。


領導議會對郭女士進行調查的參議員裡薩·洪蒂維羅斯(Risa Hontiveros)在一份聲明中表示,“展示自己。隱藏不會抹殺真相。”


郭女士否認有不當行為。 她聲稱她的中國父親和菲律賓母親在他們的養豬場撫養她。


但參與調查的參議員張僑偉聲稱,根據移民記錄,郭女士是中國公民,真名是郭華平。


「她躲起來是為了逃避逮捕,」張僑偉先生告訴當地電台。 “我們的追蹤小組將繼續尋找她。”


逮捕令簽署當天,郭女士在臉書上發表聲明,向她的選民發表講話,並暗示她不會在場。


「很抱歉沒有親自在場與你們每一個人在一起。我想念你們所有人,」她說,並補充說她的缺席將是「暫時的」。


她在貼文中補充說,她並不後悔從政,即使這對她造成瞭如此大的傷害,以至於她「幾乎迷失了自己」。


「我是菲律賓人,對班班懷抱著一顆偉大的心。我非常愛菲律賓,」她說。


郭女士的律師妮可·賈米拉 (Nicole Jamilla) 告訴當地電視台,她的當事人「肯定」會配合官方調查。


除了參議院的調查外,郭女士還接受了另一項反腐敗調查,這導致她被停職。


班班的詐騙中心凸顯了線上賭場或 Pogos(菲律賓線上博彩營運)如何被用作簡訊詐騙、人口販運和其他犯罪活動的掩護。


隱藏在離岸博彩運營商之下的犯罪團夥甚至建造了醫院,為想要新面孔的逃犯提供整容手術。


菲律賓離岸博彩業在羅德里戈·杜特爾特 (Rodrigo Duterte) 任期內蓬勃發展,其總統任期於 2022 年結束,其特點是與中國關係密切。


但在現任總統費迪南德·馬科斯 (Ferdinand Marcos) 的領導下,網路博彩公司受到了密切關注。


如果證明她是中國公民,郭女士將沒有資格擔任市長。 只有菲律賓公民才可以擔任民選公職。


但這對於受益於她的社會外展計劃的選民來說並不重要,這些計the 劃在她的社交媒體頁面上被廣泛記錄。


居民艾麗卡·米克拉特 (Erica Miclat) 告訴 ANC 電視台,郭女士為班班“帶來了改變”,人民對此心存感激。


Source: CNN

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