One of the most intriguing stories of the year has taken a dramatic twist after the Philippine municipal mayor accused of aiding the illegal activities of a criminal POGO operator was this week found to be a Chinese national.
Local media reported Thursday that Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, who is currently the subject of a Senate inquiry, is in fact a Chinese woman named Guo Hua Ping after fingerprint comparisons found them to be one and the same.
The revelation was made by Senator Risa Hontiveros, who said in a statement, “It means they are the fingerprints of one and the same person. This confirms what I have suspected all along. Mayor Alice is a fake Filipino — or should I say, Guo Hua Ping. She is a Chinese national masquerading as [a] Filipino citizen to facilitate crimes being committed by [POGOs].”
As previously reported by IAG, Guo is alleged to have aided the illegal activities of POGO firm Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated, whose premises was raided by authorities earlier this year on suspicion of being involved in human trafficking and cryptocurrency scams.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) filed charges of grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and gross neglect of duty against Guo in May. She was also suspended for six months without pay by the Office of the Ombudsman pending further investigation. Guo has repeatedly denied all accusations against her.
However, Hontiveros is now calling for the mayor to be removed from public office.
“This revelation is not the end,” he said. “Guo Hua Ping, soon, we will know the full extent of your deception. We will dig deeper and locate the systemic roots of our POGO problem.”
The issue of offshore gaming operators, now known as Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs), remains a divisive issue in the Philippines with some senators pushing to ban the industry altogether.
PAGCOR has instead promised to clean up the industry, and recently issued its first offshore gaming licenses under the IGL banner after last year placed all POGO licensees under a probationary stance.
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