Philippines DOJ recommends trafficking charges against ‘POGO mayor’
The Philippines Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Philippine National Police first filed a complaint in June. In response, Guo fled the country the following month. She was tracked to Singapore and Malaysia before travelling to Indonesia. On 3 September, she was apprehended in Jakarta and later returned to the Philippines.
In a 13 September press conference, justice under-secretary Nicholas Ty said the department of justice has recommended “qualified” charges against Guo under the country’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act. The legislation says anyone who runs an organisation that traffics in humans can also be implicated in the crime.
Guo also faces charges of money laundering, tax evasion and falsifying information on pre-election forms.
Chinese national, Philippines mayor, POGO boss
Guo reportedly was part-owner of the POGO in Bamban, Tarlac province. She allegedly funded the facility using Chinese money and has been accused of being a Chinese spy.
The POGO was raided in March, after reports of illegal activities including online crypto and love scams. Of 800 workers freed, some testified about being imprisoned and beaten. Investigators then discovered Guo was not Filipina, as she had implied, but a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping.
The resulting uproar prompted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to ban the entire POGO industry. The irate Marcos promised “heads would roll” when he discovered who helped Guo escape.
Spies, lies, body doubles and bribes
In the latest twist, Guo’s supposed “doppelganger” appeared at the National Bureau of Investigation to address charges of her own.
After Guo left the Philippines, a lookalike aide named Catherine Salazar reportedly impersonated her in public and refuted the charges against her. In one account, Salazar is described as appearing “with long jet-black hair” plus eyeglasses and a convenient face mask. Meanwhile, the fugitive changed her look too, “sporting a medium-length hairstyle” as she evaded law enforcement.
Salazar is accused of deliberately misleading authorities as they searched for the by-then notorious former mayor.
Adding to her troubles, Alice Guo/Guo Hua Ping could also be looking at attempted bribery charges. In an 11 September radio interview, former senator Panfilo Lacson claimed that she offered ₱1 billion (£13.62m/€16.13m/$17.9m) to anyone who could make her legal problems disappear.