Former Philippine Mayor Alice Guo Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Human Trafficking Linked to Chinese Crime Syndicate

A Philippine trial court has sentenced former mayor Alice Guo to life imprisonment after finding her guilty of human trafficking tied to a Chinese criminal syndicate, the government’s anti-crime commission said on Thursday.

Guo, who won the mayoral seat in the farming town of Bamban north of Manila while presenting herself as a Filipino citizen, was later identified by police as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping.

“This long-awaited decision is not only a legal victory but also a moral one,” the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said in a statement. “It delivers justice to the victims and reaffirms the government’s unified stance against organized crime.”

Guo’s lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. She has previously denied any links to criminal activity and insisted she was Filipino by birth.

The Philippine Senate launched a congressional inquiry into Guo last May, two months after a police raid uncovered that a scam center was operating inside a facility built on her property—one of many such hubs that have proliferated across Southeast Asia in recent years.

The raid rescued hundreds of trafficked workers, including foreign nationals, prompting PAOCC to file human trafficking charges against Guo.

According to PAOCC, the court also convicted seven other individuals on trafficking charges, sentencing them to life imprisonment, and ordered the facility forfeited to the government.

Guo’s case has intensified scrutiny of China’s activities in the Philippines, where public suspicion has grown amid rising tensions between the two countries in the South China Sea.

The Senate earlier cited Guo for contempt and ordered her arrest after she repeatedly refused to appear at congressional hearings. She fled the country but was later captured in Indonesia and deported to the Philippines in September 2024.

Guo was dismissed from office by the Ombudsman in August 2024 for grave misconduct and is also facing other criminal charges, including corruption and money laundering.

Her case has fueled renewed calls to crack down on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), largely run by Chinese nationals serving clients in China. These operations expanded significantly under former President Rodrigo Duterte but have since been heavily restricted and ultimately banned by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.