Philippines: Suspected Chinese spy Alice Guo arrested in Indonesia

A former Philippine mayor who was on the run for weeks after being accused of spying for China has been arrested in Indonesia.

Philippine authorities are pursuing Alice Guo in four countries, even though she disappeared in July following an investigation into her alleged criminal activities.

She is accused of protecting online casinos that served as fronts for scam centers and human trafficking rings in her sleepy pig farming town of Bamban.

Ms Guo denies the allegations. Philippine officials said they were working with their Indonesian counterparts to have her returned to the Philippines as soon as possible.

The former mayor said she grew up on her family’s farm with her Chinese father and Filipino mother, but lawmakers investigating the scam’s activities accused her of being a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping and a spy who served as a front for criminal gangs.

The dramatic nature of her case, which saw her sister previously arrested and questioned by the Philippine Senate, sparked outrage in the country and international attention.

Authorities suspect Guo eluded border controls in July and traveled to Indonesia on multiple boats via neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, where she was arrested on Tuesday at the western border of the capital Jakarta.

Although online casinos and online gaming activities are not illegal in the Philippines, they are increasingly being exposed as a front for other crimes.

The companies, which mainly serve customers in mainland China, flourished under former President Rodrigo Duterte, who sought close economic and political ties with Beijing.

But Duterte’s successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has reversed the country’s foreign policy and has cracked down on Pogo-related crimes since taking office in 2022.