Following an increase in disputes between the two countries in the South China Sea where the two countries have overlapping claims, her case has gripped the Philippines at a time of growing conviction about China’s actions.
China’s Embassy in Manila and Guo’s lawyer did not respond to inquiries for comment on Hontiveros ‘ remarks right away.  ,
A judge delayed Guo’s scheduled trial on Friday so that it can decide whether or not to hear her petition to have the case dismissed. She showed up in court wearing a helmet and scopes hat.  ,
Guo, mayor of Bamban since 2022, was fired from office last month by the Ombudsman for burial wrongdoing. Additionally, she is the subject of a money-laundering investigation at the Department of Justice.  ,
Ferdinand Marcos, president of the Philippines, has urged Guo to explain how online gaming operations that target users in China, where gambling is prohibited, have branched into violence.  ,
Before Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, much known as POGOs, were outlawed in the Philippines, China had urged Manila to boycott online games to help its own assault on cross-border playing.
” We have seen many and strong connections to international crime cartels that have victimized not only our own people here in the Philippines, but also citizens from all over the world,” Hontiveros said in the wake of the fall of POGOs and of people like Guo Hua Ping.
” It’s bigger than the Philippines”, Hontiveros said, adding the president’s spacecraft had “only started to scratch the surface”.  ,