Ex-Philippine Mayor Alice Guo faces deportation after arrest in Indonesia

A former Philippine mayor wanted by authorities for suspected ties to illegal gaming operations and allegedly faking her citizenship was arrested in Indonesia on Wednesday after being on the run for weeks, officials said. 

Officials in Manila and Jakarta were working together to deport Alice Guo – the recently dismissed mayor of Bamban, a town in northern Tarlac province – to the Philippines to face charges, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in televised remarks.

“Let this serve as a warning to those who attempt to evade justice: Such is an exercise in futility,” he said. “The arm of the law is long and it will reach you.”

The president reiterated an earlier warning, and said that those who helped Guo escape “will certainly pay the price.”

In Jakarta, Inspector General Krishna Murti, head of the Indonesian police’s international relations division, said Indonesia wanted to swap Guo for Gregor Johann Hass, an Australian wanted for drug trafficking there. Hass was arrested in the Philippines in May.

Indonesian authorities picked up Guo in Tangerang City, about 30 km (18.6 miles) from Jakarta.

Krishna declined to provide further details about Guo’s arrest. The Philippines and Indonesia have an extradition treaty dating to 1976.

In Manila, Marcos said that Guo would receive legal protection but, he added, the Philippine government will not allow delays “to prolong the resolution of the case.”

The Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Guo was arrested in Indonesia for immigration violations. 

Guo’s lawyer had yet to comment on her arrest.

Philippine immigration officials and intelligence operatives said Guo had fled the country in July.

In late August, two of Guo’s alleged associates were arrested by Indonesian authorities on Batam island, near Singapore. Both are now under the custody of Philippine authorities.

Scam hubs 

Guo was the subject of a congressional probe into alleged criminal activities involving Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs). Several senators alleged that she had ties to criminal syndicates and had faked her identity as a Philippine citizen. 

Guo, who became mayor of Bamban in 2022, maintained she was a Filipino and denied having links to illegal POGOs.

The Philippine government is working to bring Guo back to the country this week. She may be brought to the Senate upon arrival because she has a standing arrest warrant for skipping legislative hearings, authorities said.

Guo is facing multiple cases, including criminal complaints for alleged money laundering. 

Last month, Manila’s Office of the Ombudsman ordered her dismissed as mayor for “grave misconduct” and disqualified her from running for public office again. In the Philippines, the ombudsman has disciplinary authority over elected and appointed government officials, including mayors.

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Who is Alice Guo?

Before attending the Senate hearing in May, Guo was largely out of the public eye. 

A businesswoman, she joined politics only in 2022, becoming the first woman mayor of the small town of Bamban, in central Luzon. 

Before being elected as mayor, Guo had leased her 20-acre lot to a gaming company.

Documents presented to the Senate allegedly showed that Guo had personally applied for the firm’s business permit in 2020.

Several senators said that Guo, as mayor, had failed to revoke the license of the gaming company after authorities raided it in early 2023 on suspicion of illegal activities.

They also accused Guo of issuing a permit to a new gaming company under a different name to evade authorities. 

In June, the NBI said that the fingerprints of Alice Guo and Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese national who arrived in the country in July 2003, matched. 

Various Philippine officials alleged that the former mayor may have the backing of some influential people – who remain unidentified to date.

Guo joined the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), a major political party, in 2022. 

On Wednesday, NPC chairman Vicente Sotto III told BenarNews that the party leaders saw “no illegal background” of Guo. He said they only knew about the details of her background when the issue blew up in the Senate investigation.

In June, the party expelled Guo from its ranks.