Former Philippines mayor Alice Guo is said to have arrived in Singapore on July 21, after fleeing the archipelago while facing a Senate hearing. - ALICE LEAL GUO/FACEBOOK
SINGAPORE: A former Philippine mayor under investigation for her ties to Chinese crime syndicates, including two foreigners convicted in Singapore over money laundering offences, may have been in the Republic for about a month.
She is said to have arrived here on July 21 after fleeing the archipelago while facing a Senate hearing.
Alice Guo, who represented Bamban in the city of Tarlac, which is about 1.5 hours from Manila, is said to have travelled to Singapore to meet her parents, said Philippine Senator Risa Hontiveros in a Senate hearing on Tuesday (Aug 19).
Senator Hontiveros is the first to reveal the embattled mayor’s escape. Citing sources, she said Guo’s parents flew into Singapore from China on July 28.
According to the Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration and the country’s Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC), Guo arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 18, and then flew to Singapore on July 21.
PAOCC spokesman Winston Casio said on Aug 19 that Guo, also identified as Chinese national Guo Huaping, landed in Singapore from Kuala Lumpur via Jetstar Asia.
Aviation data tracker Flightradar24 showed Jetstar Asia 686 – or flight number 3K686 – left Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 3.58pm on July 21 and landed at Changi Airport at 4.47pm that same day.
Casio said that the former mayor then left for Batam, Indonesia, via ferry on Aug 18.
The Straits Times asked the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) questions about Guo’s trip to Singapore.
ICA would only say that she is not in the country.
Guo, who has been charged over a number of criminal offences, is facing a Philippines’ Senate arrest warrant for snubbing the hearings. She was removed from office for grave misconduct in August.
The probe involves her ties to a now-shutdown online casino allegedly being used as a front for scamming operations and other criminal activities.
Guo had incorporated the company behind the scam compound, Baofu Land Development, in 2019 with two convicts in Singapore’s S$3 billion money laundering case, Chinese nationals Zhang Ruijin and Lin Baoying.
Zhang, 45, and Lin, 44, were each sentenced to 15 months’ jail after they pleaded guilty in Singapore to money laundering and forgery charges. Zhang was convicted in April and Lin pleaded guilty in May.
The lovers were deported to Cambodia on June 15 after serving their sentence.
Zhang was subsequently deported from Cambodia on July 16, according to Cambodia’s General Department of Immigration. Phnom Penh did not specify which country he was sent to.
The Philippine authorities had in June filed a criminal complaint against Guo, Zhang, Lin and 11 others over alleged human trafficking activities in the online casino, also known as a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo).
Pogos, which operate online casino games for customers outside the country, have been a source of controversy in the Philippines, where they contributed around US$1.3 billion to the economy in 2022.
Although they are registered and licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp, some lawmakers claim the licensed online gambling operators are a front for scam hubs that exploit human trafficking victims.
The crime of qualified trafficking in the Philippines is non-bailable and usually carries the penalty of life imprisonment.
ST understands that despite her ties to the couple, Guo is not considered a person of interest in the S$3 billion money laundering case.
She does not have a formal warrant of arrest issued against her by a Philippine court, and is not named on Interpol’s Red Notice list.
There is only an immigration lookout bulletin order issued by the Philippine authorities that requires the authorities to closely monitor her movements, but it cannot stop her from leaving the country legally.
ST understands that Philippine law enforcement agencies did not contact the Singapore Police Force for help regarding Guo.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Aug 21 that the government will come after the “culprits” responsible for Guo’s escape, and that “heads will roll”.
The President said Guo’s sneaky departure has “laid bare the corruption” hounding the Philippine justice system, adding that a full-scale investigation is already under way.
“We will expose the culprits who have betrayed the people’s trust and aided in her flight,” said Marcos. - The Straits Times/ANN
