A former Philippines mayor accused of spying for China has been found guilty of human trafficking for her role in running a fraud hub.
On Thursday, she and three others were sentenced to life in prison and fined 2 million pesos ($33,832; £25,942).
Alice Guo’s case has worried the Philippines for years, after authorities uncovered one of the country’s biggest scam hubs in her small town of Bamban. Some 800 Filipinos and foreigners were later rescued from the scam hub after a raid, with many claiming they were forced into “pig butchery” scams.
The 35-year-old, arrested last year after being on the run for weeks, has denied all allegations against her.
It is not yet known whether she could appeal.
There are still five pending cases against Guo, including one in which she was accused of money laundering.
In 2022, Guo was elected mayor of Bamban, north of the capital Manila. Bamban residents earlier told the BBC that she was seen as a caring and empathetic leader.
But in 2024, the sleepy town was thrust into the national spotlight after authorities there discovered a sprawling scam hub hiding beneath online casinos, known locally as Philippine Online Gaming Operations (Pogo).
Pogos are aimed at customers in the Chinese mainland, where gambling is illegal.
Guo initially denied any knowledge of the compound, but a subsequent Senate investigation cast doubt on his failure to detect the eight-hectare center near his office.
It later emerged that the complex – which contained 36 buildings – had been built on land previously owned by Guo.
They also found discrepancies in her life story: She was not, as she had claimed, born in the Philippines, but had emigrated from China with her family as a teenager. Deputies later discovered that his fingerprints matched those of a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping.
She was soon dismissed from her position. And as more details about the case emerged, she disappeared in July 2024, sparking an international operation in four countries to bring her back.
In September of the same year, she was arrested in Indonesia and extradited to the Philippines. His Philippine passport was also cancelled.
His case unfolds as the Philippines and China continue to dispute over reefs and outcrops in the South China Sea. While the case made national headlines in the Philippines, China remained silent on the allegations against it.
Additional reporting by Virma Simonette
