INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines – An undercover spy for China? A front for an organized crime syndicate?
Since these allegations against dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, whose biological name turned out to be Guo Hua Ping, first surfaced, the congressional hearings into the shady Philippine Offshore Gambling Operation (Pogo) industry had became a nationwide affair – and to some extent, a spectacle.
Here, CDN Digital has put up a timeline on the key developments in the sensational case of Alice Guo, her escape, and her eventual capture.
February 2023
It all began in a raid of an illegal Pogo hub in the sleepy town of Bamban in Tarlac, Luzon. Specifically, in a sprawling complex called the Baofu compound that housed dozens of workers – most of whom turned out to be victims of illegal traffickers.
But Guo’s name would only first come to light a year later, when another raid was conducted on the same property.
March 2024
The Baofu compound once again raided by local police and authorities from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).
The operation stemmed after the PAOCC received a complaint from a Malaysian national, claiming that he and dozens of other individuals, including foreign nationals, had been held against their will.
Over 800 individuals were rescued from the property which, according to reports from news outlets in Metro Manila, is being used to facilitate various online scams.
A few weeks after the raid was conducted, the Senate, during its ongoing investigation into the Pogo industry, wanted to find out the links between Guo and the Baofu complex.
April 2024
Guo released a statement, denying her involvement in the Pogo hub in Bamban. Meanwhile, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) formed a task force to investigate the embattled mayor further.
Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos even recommended issuing a preventive suspension against Guo as investigations are ongoing.
May 2024
Two months after the raid in Baofu compound, Bamban, Guo appeared before the Senate panel to answer queries from Sen. Risa Hontiveros who then raised concerns of alleged spying activities taking place in the property.
Hontiveros also questioned Guo’s identity and suspected that she might be a Chinese spy.
READ MORE: Alice Guo’s birth certificate: Petition to cancel this filed
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.
It was also during this month when Guo claimed she had been homeschooled in a farm, and that she was a lovechild between her Filipina housemaid and her Chinese biological father.
June 2024
However, the mayor’s statements were once again under intense scrutiny.
By June, Gatchalian revealed that documents showed a certain Guo Hua Ping entered the Philippines in 2003, and could be the real name of Alice Guo.
Is ‘Guo Hua Ping’ the real Alice Guo? – Photo from: Senator Gatchalian
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.
READ MORE: Chinese Guo Hua Ping is Mayor Alice Guo
The National Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Immigration eventually confirmed that Alice Guo and Guo Hua Ping are the same person, citing fingerprint matches.
July 2024
However, when July came, Guo had failed to appear before Senate hearings twice, prompting Hontiveros to cite her for contempt.
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.
On July 12, Hontiveros and Senate President Francis Escudero signed an arrest order against Guo after she skipped the July 10 hearing.
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.
However, as we later found out, Guo, her sister Sheila and Cassandra Ong fled the country on July 18.
August 2024
The Commission on Elections 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.
The Office of the Ombudsman has also ordered the dismissal of Guo after she was found guilty of grave misconduct.
Then on August 19, Hontiveros revealed that Guo left the country. The mayor arrived in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on July 18 using her Philippine passport.
Picture of dismissed Bamban, Mayor Alice Guo in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Photo from PAOCC Usec. Gilbert Cruz
She allegedly fled with Shiela Guo, Wesley Guo by riding multiple boats going to Sabah.
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.
The passports of Guo, her siblings, and business associate Cassandra Ong were reported to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
Then on August 22, three days after Guo’s departure was revealed, Abalos announced that Shiela and Ong were arrested in Batam, Indonesia.
September 2024
On September 3, Guo was arrested by Indonesian authorities in a hotel in Tangerang City, Jakarta in Indonesia.
Photo of Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping while in her detention in Indonesia at about 5:34 a.m. (Courtesy of the Philippine National Police)
Two days after, Guo arrived in the Philippines on board a chartered flight RP-C6188. She was accompanied by Abalos and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Rommel Marbil.
They landed at Royal Star Aviation hangar, a private plane charter, in Pasay City at 1:10 am on Friday.