Philippines: Mayor Alice Guo says she is a beloved child and not a Chinese spy

The mayor of a small rural village in the Philippines said she was a “beloved child” and not a Chinese spy.

Mayor Alice Guo, who is under investigation for criminal conspiracy, was unable to answer questions about her family history and upbringing during a Senate hearing.

Because of this, one senator asked if she was an “asset” to the Chinese government.

“I want to tell the people: I am not a spy. I am a Filipino and I love my country,” Guo said on ABS-CBN News Channel on Monday night.

She also revealed that she is the “beloved child” of a Chinese father and his Filipino maid.

Her statement came after weeks of intense criticism on social media, where she was the subject of memes mocking her forgetfulness about details of her private life and relations with China.

President Ferdinand Marcos also weighed in and expressed his concerns.

Ms. Guo is under investigation after authorities discovered that an online offshore casino in her town of Bambang was actually the base of a fraud center.

Guo said his mother left him when he was a baby and he grew up with his father on a pig farm in Tarlac, an agricultural province north of the capital Manila.

“I am the love child of my father and his maid…This is a very private matter. I cannot tell anyone that my mother abandoned me,” she said.

She apologized to senators for not being able to fully explain her parentage because she “blacked out” during her testimony.

At the Senate hearing, Guo admitted that her birth certificate was registered when she was 17 years old. She said she was born in her home and not in a hospital. She also claimed that she was educated at her home, but could not provide further details.

Suspicions were further heightened when it was revealed that she had registered to vote in Bambang Town in 2021, the year before she ran for mayor and won.

Ms. Guo said she was ashamed of being illegitimate and that was why she was mainly within the family’s pig farm.

“I had no friends, no playmates. I grew up hiding on a farm,” she said.

However, in her late teens, she became involved in her father’s business. She said she used to buy corn from the nearby town of Tarlac to make feed for her pigs.

Apart from the scant details about Guo’s birth and education, the lawmakers also questioned why he knew nothing about the criminal activities hidden beneath the offshore casino.

These are known as Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations or Pogo.

Pogo, which served as a hideout for the Bang Bang gang, was built on land partly owned by Guo, who said he sold his stake before he was elected in 2022.

Authorities raided the facility last March and rescued about 700 workers, including 202 Chinese nationals and 73 other foreigners who had been forced to pose as online lovers.

The 8-hectare property was like a small city, complete with a grocery store, warehouse, swimming pool, and even a wine cellar. Fraud center employees worked hard on computers at rows of long white tables.

Pogos flourished during Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency, which ends in 2022 and was marked by close ties with China.

However, under current President Ferdinand Marcos, Pogo has come under intense scrutiny after it was discovered that parts of it were being used as fronts for human trafficking and online fraud activities.

It was also discovered that Guo had a helicopter and a Ford Expedition registered in her name, but she claims that, like the land, these were sold long ago.

In a TV interview on Monday, Guo was asked about a photo of him in a McLaren sports car that went viral online.

She said the McLaren had been loaned to her by a friend to display at a town festival.

Guo also reiterated that he is not involved with Pogo or the Human Trafficking and Fraud Center.

“I’m not that powerful. I’m just a citizen of a second-class municipality. I don’t have that connection,” she said.

President Ferdinand Marcos ordered authorities to investigate Guo’s nationality and ensure that foreigners cannot hold public office.

“I have heard that I will be deported. My mother abandoned me. So will my home country also deport me?” she said.

She said she will seek re-election next year. Mayors in the Philippines are allowed three consecutive terms.

“I will not resign. I will continue to serve my constituents,” she said.