Alice Guo’s controversies: From Senate Pogo probe to her escape

MANILA, Philippines — Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo has been the talk of the town following the Senate probe into her alleged involvement in the illegal activities of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogos) in Bamban and her questionable nationality.

Despite running as an independent candidate in the 2022 polls, Guo won the mayoral election, with 16,503 votes against her rival Joey Salting.

INQUIRER.net looked back on the events that transpired, from the Senate probe to Guo’s escape from the Philippines.

May 2024

• May 7: Guo attended the Senate panel on women’s hearing on the illegal activities of Pogos.
• Senator Risa Hontiveros, chair of the panel, revealed that Zun Yuan Technology Inc, a licensed Pogo in Baofu compound in Bamban, was being used for surveillance activities and hacking.
• Guo was an incorporator of. Zun Yuan Technology Inc., which replaced Hongsheng Gaming Technology Incorporated in the location when the latter was raided in February 2023 and was raided again in March 2024 over reports of alleged human trafficking and serious illegal detention.
• According to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, authorities found documents from the March 2024 raid showing Guo’s links to the firm. A billing statement from Tarlac II Electric Cooperative Inc. and a vehicle seized during the raid were registered under her name.
• Hontiveros also questioned Guo’s identity and suspected that she might be a Chinese spy. The senator pointed out that there were no hospital records of Guo’s birth in the Philippines and her birth was registered late in 2005.
• Guo said she was homeschooled on a farm and was tutored by Teacher Rubilyn. Hontiveros disputed Guo’s claims since Guo could not name her homeschool provider.

READ: The peculiar case of Alice Guo

• In a television interview, Guo said she is the lovechild of Amelia Leal, their supposed housekeeper, and Jian Zhong Guo, a Chinese national. She also said that she is an only child and she never met her biological mother.
• Hontiveros presented a certificate showing that Guo’s parents were married and she had two other siblings, named Sheila and Siemen who also carry the same middle name Leal.

READ: Bamban mayor’s background dubious, says Hontiveros

• May 18: The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) recommended the suspension of Guo to not influence the investigation into her nationality and alleged ties to the Bamban Pogo.
• May 31: The Ombudsman ordered the suspension of Guo, Bamban Municipal Business Permits and Licensing Office officer Edwin Ocampo, and Municipal Legal Officer Adenn Sigua “considering that there is strong evidence showing their guilt.”

June

• June 18: Gatchalian raised the possibility that Alice Guo and a Chinese woman named Guo Hua Ping, who entered the Philippines on Jan. 12, 2003 when she was 13 years old, could be the same person, citing documents from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
• Based on the documents from the Guo family’s application for a Special Investors Resident Visa, Guo Hua Ping’s real birthdate is Aug. 31, 1990. However, the birthdate that Alice Guo wrote on her certificate of candidacy for mayor was July 12, 1986.

READ: Gatchalian: Is ‘Guo Hua Ping’ the real Alice Guo?

• Gatchalian also disputed Alice Guo’s claim that she is a lovechild of her father and his housekeeper, noting that Guo Hua Ping’s “registered mother” in her resident visa is Lin Wen Yi.
• June 22: The Philippine National Police and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission filed a non-bailable qualified human trafficking charge against Alice Guo over her alleged ties to the Bamban Pogo.
• According to DILG Undersecretary Juan Victor Llamas, the agency filed graft complaints against Alice Guo before the Ombudsman.
• June 27: The NBI confirmed that Alice Guo and Guo Hua Ping are the same person because their fingerprints have matched.

READ: Mayor Alice Guo is also Chinese woman Guo Hua Ping, NBI confirms

July

• July 10: Hontiveros cited Guo for contempt for failing to attend the Senate hearing on Pogos for the second time. According to Guo’s camp, she skipped the hearing because she was not feeling well. Guo’s lawyers filed a petition for certiorari at the Supreme Court to stop the Senate from inviting her to attend hearings.
• July 12: Hontiveros and Senate President Francis Escudero signed an arrest order against Guo after she skipped the July 10 hearing.

READ: Arrest Alice Guo, others – Senate

• July 29: Nancy Gamo, Guo’s accountant, admitted that she helped Guo and her family secure incorporation papers for their companies.
• According to BI, both the names Alice Guo and Guo Hua Ping were included in the Immigration Lookout Bulletin. It was issued to check if there were pending arrest warrants against her as she might attempt to leave the country.

August

• Aug. 1: The Law Department of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) recommended filing a misrepresentation case against Alice Guo after the poll body’s investigation revealed that the fingerprints on the voting records of the former mayor and the records of Guo Hua Ping from the NBI and the BI matched.
• Aug. 13: Comelec issued a subpoena against Guo for material representation. It is a violation of Section 74 in relation to Section 262 of the Omnibus Election Code.

READ: Comelec issues subpoena vs Alice Guo for material misrepresentation

• Aug. 13: The Office of the Ombudsman ordered the dismissal of Guo after she was found guilty of grave misconduct.
• Aug. 14: Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. led the filing of a tax evasion complaint against Guo, accusing her of not paying the capital gains tax and documentary stamp tax amounting to P500,000 for Baofu divestment.
• Aug. 19: Hontiveros revealed that Guo left the Philippines for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 18 using her Philippine passport. The BI said she may have left the Philippines illegally without passing through the required immigration checks. However, Guo’s camp insisted that she was still in the country and even had her counter-affidavit personally notarized.

READ: Alice Guo out of PH, fled to Malaysia last month – Hontiveros

• The passports of Guo, her siblings, and business associate Cassandra Ong were reported to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
• Aug. 21: The NBI said it was closely coordinating with Interpol for appropriate measures against Guo.
• Aug. 22: Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos revealed that Guo’s two companions, her sister Shiela and Ong, were arrested in Indonesia and would be brought back to the Philippines for detention.
• August 26: Shiela was brought to the Senate detention facility while Ong was turned over to the House of Representatives.
• August 26: The Anti-Money Laundering Council filed 87 counts of money laundering before the Department of Justice to Alice Guo and 35 others involved in illegal offshore gaming operations.

September

• September 4: Indonesian Police arrested the dismissed mayor at around 1:30 a.m. in Tangerang City, Jakarta.
• September 5: INQUIRER.net reported that the Philippine and Indonesian authorities were negotiating to exchange Alice for an Australian wanted by Jakarta for drug trafficking charges.
• September 5: DILG Secretary Abalos and Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Rommel Marbil arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia to fetch Alice.
• September 5: Regional Trial Court Branch 109 in Capas, Tarlac issued an arrest warrant against Guo for the alleged violation of provisions of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

READ: Alice Guo back in Philippines following arrest in Indonesia

• September 6: Alice was brought back to the country by a chartered flight that landed in a private plane charter in Pasay, City around 1:10 a.m. She was transferred to the PNP custodial center in Camp Crame, Quezon City where she was detained. She left the custodial facility to appear in a Tarlac court around 9:40 a.m. She was returned to Camp Crame around 2:10 p.m. after she was granted by the court to continue being detained under the custody of PNP.

READ: Arrest of Alice Guo’s sister, Ong in Indonesia confirms Pogo links – DOJ