A former mayor who is accused of spying for China and having ties to legal mafias has fled the Philippines, causing outrage.
After officials acknowledged Alice Guo had left the nation undiscovered a month before and had traveled to Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday that “heads did move.”
According to Mr. Marcos, her departure “lay exposed the problem that undermines our justice system and erodes the trust of the people.”
Ms Guo has been out of public view since July when a Senate panel investigating her alleged links to scam centres and online casinos ordered her arrest for refusing to testify in its enquiry.
She is accused of allowing people trafficking organizations and con artists to run their businesses in her hometown by posing as online games.
Lawmakers have also accused her of being a detective or agent for China, citing her “opaque” answers to questions about her Foreign lineage.
Police have lodged criminal charges against her, but the anti-graft organization in the Philippines just fired her because of “grave misconduct.”
She has denied all the claims.
Mr Guo left the Philippines “illegally” and skipped borders investigations, according to the country’s Bureau of Immigration, which said it found out about her journeys abroad through knowledge resources.
Mr. Marcos promised to “expose the culprits who have helped to her aircraft and betrayed the people’s believe.”
He likewise ordered the withdrawal of Ms Guo’s Philippine passport.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, who has been leading the Philippines ‘ fraud centers since May, said it is intolerable for Ms. Guo to evade immigration balances.
” The brain of this false Filipino, using a Spanish card to escape”, she said.
In March, Ms. Guo was subject to scrutiny after authorities discovered a massive fraud center and human trafficking activity in her sleepy town of Bamban, north of Manila.
The illegal activities were hidden in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, or” Pogo” organizations, that stood on property owned by Ms Guo’s home.
Due to that, Ms. Guo was largely unknown and had not previously held public office before being elected president in 2022. She claims she grew up protected in the mother’s animal land in Bamban.
Pogos are not prohibited, but they are increasingly being used as support for different crimes. Under previous president Rodrigo Duterte, who sought a close economic and political relationship with Beijing, the businesses, which generally serve mainland Chinese clients, flourished.
But Mr Duterte’s leader, Mr Marcos, reversed the government’s foreign policy path and has cracked down on Pogo-linked acts since assuming department in 2022.
As the Philippines ‘ debate with China over reefs and rocks in the South China Sea continues to grow, nationalist sentiments are even waning.
Earlier this month, Manila and Beijing traded new allegations of ship shoving in the resource-rich lakes.