1-9-2024 (MANILA) The dramatic escape of Alice Leal Guo, the dismissed mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, and the subsequent arrest of her alleged accomplices in Indonesia have shed light on an intricate network of illicit gaming operations spanning Luzon and beyond. This unfolding saga has exposed the far-reaching tendrils of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) and their influence across international borders.
The tale of Guo, a 33-year-old elected to mayoral office in 2022, took a sinister turn on 13 March 2024 when a police raid in her sleepy town uncovered one of the Philippines’ largest illegal offshore gaming operations. The operation, ostensibly investigating reports of trafficking and torture of foreign nationals, led to the arrest and subsequent deportation of 400 individuals of various nationalities.
As government inquiries delved deeper, unsettling questions about Guo’s background emerged. Investigators were startled to discover that her birth had only been registered when she was 17 years old. More alarmingly, her fingerprints matched those of an unidentified Chinese national. Perhaps most crucially, evidence surfaced that Guo had applied for multiple clearances for Baofu Land Development Inc before purportedly divesting her interests to pursue a career in local politics.
The plot thickened last month when an immigration bureau report revealed that Guo had managed to evade authorities, fleeing first to Singapore and then to Indonesia. This development, while shocking, seemed almost inevitable following months of her refusal to cooperate with a Senate investigation.
A significant breakthrough came with the arrest of Guo’s supposed sister, Shiela, and alleged accomplice, Cassandra Li Ong, in Batam, Indonesia. Both women have been linked to Lucky South 99, a gaming operation based in Porac, Pampanga.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission disclosed that Zhang Jie, a Singaporean national and former executive of Lucky South 99, had assisted Guo’s group in securing hotel reservations in Batam. This revelation has highlighted the complex web of connections within the illegal gaming industry across Southeast Asia.
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