Philippines: Mayor accused of being China’s ‘asset’ raises alarm

A sleepy town in the Philippines has gained national attention after its mayor was accused of being a Chinese agent.

Bambang is a nondescript town located on a rice-producing floodplain north of the capital Manila.

Mayor Alice Guo is the epitome of an active young civil servant.

The 35-year-old with glasses, long black hair and a constant smile speaks Tagalog without a foreign accent and loves wearing pink in public.

Until she was called to testify at a Senate hearing earlier this month, there was nothing in her life that alleges she grew up on a pig farm that set off any alarm bells.

Law enforcement officers discovered that an online casino in her town, locally known as Pogo, was actually the base of a fraud center.

Authorities raided the facility last March and rescued nearly 700 employees, including 202 Chinese nationals and 73 other foreigners who had been tricked into pretending to be their girlfriends online.

Pogo stands for Philippine Offshore Gambling Operator whose customers are mainland Chinese.

These businesses 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 turned out that she owned half of the land that Pogo stood on, right behind her office. She claims she sold her property two years ago before running for mayor.

Video of the approximately 8-hectare property showed a grocery store, warehouse, swimming pool and even a wine cellar. Fraud center employees worked hard on computers at rows of long white tables.

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.

After the Senate hearing, Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked whether Mr. Guo was an “asset” to China, based on his “opaque” answers to questions about his personal and business background.

Late Thursday, President Marcos added his voice to the growing alarm over Guo’s case.

“Nobody knows her. They wonder where she came from. So, because there are questions about her citizenship, she has been sent to immigration authorities,” Marcos told reporters late Thursday. We are working with them to investigate.”

Guo told lawmakers he was “not a spoiler or a protector of Pogos.”

Little is known about her background, which is unusual in rural Philippines, where local officials are often associated with political dynasties. She has only just completed her first term as a member of Congress.

According to the election commission, she registered to vote in Bambang City in 2021, a year before she ran for mayor and won.

Her last name, Guo, is also not a common surname for Chinese-Filipinos. Although a colony of Spain, the Philippines and China have deep cultural ties through centuries of trade. In fact, the country is home to the world’s oldest Chinatown.

When questioned by senators, Guo admitted that his birth certificate was only registered with local authorities when he turned 17. She said this was because she was born at her home rather than in a hospital or clinic. She could not provide further details.

She said she was only homeschooled on the property, which also had pigs. However, she could not remember the name of her alma mater’s organization, and she named only one of her teachers.

Although she stated that her father was Filipino, business records identified her father as a Chinese national.

“Many people are asking who Alice Guo is,” she said in her 2022 campaign speech, according to Manila broadcaster GMA News.

“I’m Alice Guo from Bang Bang. My mother is Filipino and my father is Chinese,” she said in Tagalog.

Hontiveros was among those who asked questions about Guo’s birth and educational background. When he approached the mayor for more specific information, the only reply he received was, “I’ll get back to you.”

“I am most concerned about Ms. Guo’s answers, especially how opaque her background is,” Hontiveros told reporters.

“Are Mayor Alice and people with mysterious backgrounds like her working as human resources for China? Planted in our country so that they can influence Philippine politics? ” she said.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who was present at the hearing, said, “It’s incredible that Bambang Mayor Alice Guo always answers our questions with “I don’t know” and can’t even remember where she lived. I want to,” he said.

Guo has not commented on the spying allegations and has largely avoided media interviews since appearing in the Senate last week.

Marcos said the investigation into Guo was aimed at preventing foreigners from holding public office in the country. He said the Philippines is “not necessarily looking at just one country.”

“We will strengthen law enforcement. The law exists, but the problem is that some people think that these people can bring in money, or they can take bribes,” Marcos said. ” he said.

The Election Commission and the Attorney General are investigating whether Guo held office illegally. If proven, she could be removed from her post.