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Alice Guo transferred to Pasig City jail

September 23, 2024 | 10:19am

Alice Guo transferred to Pasig City jail

Alice Leal Guo, former mayor of Bamban in Philippine's Tarlac province accused of human trafficking and links to Chinese organised crime, is escorted to a press conference in Manila on September 6, 2024, after being deported following her arrest in Indonesia on September 3. Alice Leal Guo, a former mayor of a town north of the capital Manila, has been on the run since she was linked to a Chinese-run online gambling centre where hundreds of people were forced to run scams or risk torture.

AFP / Jam Sta Rosa

MANILA, Philippines — Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo was transferred to a Pasig City jail on Monday morning, September 23.

This comes after the Regional Trial Court Branch 167 of Pasig City issued an arrest warrant for Guo and other suspects for qualified trafficking.

Guo was initially detained in Camp Crame, Quezon City. Still donning a bulletproof vest and helmet, the former mayor left Camp Crame at around 8:50 a.m. and arrived in Pasig City Jail around an hour later.

“The National Capital Region Custodial Facility, Camp Crame, Quezon City is directed to transfer the custody of accused Alice Leal Guo a.k.a. ‘Guo Hua Ping’ to the Pasig City Jail Female Dormitory, Bureau of Kail and Management Penology located at Nagpayong, Brgy. Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City,” Pasig City judge Annielyn Medes-Cabelis wrote in the order.

The Pasig City court has set Guo’s arraignment on September 27, 8:30 a.m. via video conferencing.

Guo was tagged as one of the masterminds behind illegal activities tied to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), which bore evidence of crimes ranging from scamming to human trafficking. One of her ties to illegal gaming hubs included having part ownership of the real estate firm that leased its land to a raided POGO hub in Bamban.

The number of Guo’s cases has created a legal quandary of who should detain her. She faces multiple counts of human trafficking charges, graft, money laundering and misrepresentation.

The Senate's warrant of arrest was initially the only one issued against Guo before she slipped past authorities and fled the country.

When she was detained by Indonesian authorities and returned to the Philippines, a Capas, Tarlac court issued an arrest warrant for Guo, putting her in police custody.

However, since Guo is suspected to be Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, the Department of Justice believes she could be detained as an illegal alien by the Bureau of Immigration.