Alice Guo Influenced Bamban Executives Even Before Election, Says PAOCC

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and a lawmaker believe Alice Guo managed to wield significant influence over local government decisions even before she was elected as mayor of Bamban, Tarlac. Guo, a Chinese national whose real name is believed to be Guo Hua Ping, was able to reclassify lands intended for agricultural use to commercial purposes.

Way back in 2019 when Guo, then a private citizen, began acquiring land in Bamban. According to Winston John Casio, spokesperson for the PAOCC, Guo embarked on a buying spree, purchasing plots ranging from 200 square meters to several hectares. By 2020, Guo had already secured significant tracts of land, which would later become the site of a POGO hub operated initially by Hongsheng and later by Zun Yuan.

“There was a grand design as early as 2020,” Casio was quoted as saying by the Inquirer during a House committee hearing on illegal activities linked to POGOs.

“Now if you would take a look at the next part therein, you would see that she was able to seek the reclassification of what was formerly an agricultural piece of land, 7.9 hectares of that agricultural land, [were] reclassified into commercial and residential.”

The PAOCC spokesperson claimed that Guo managed to secure a “special ordinance” from the Bamban municipal government on March 21, 2019. This ordinance facilitated the reclassification of 7.9 hectares of agricultural land into commercial and residential use in less than two weeks from the application date. This rapid approval raised concerns that Guo had considerable sway over the city council even before her election as mayor in 2022.

Manila Rep. Rolando Valeriano pointed out the implications of Guo’s actions, noting that she must have had significant influence over the Bamban city council to secure such a swift reclassification. This observation led to further scrutiny of Guo’s pre-election activities and her connections to the POGO operations in Bamban.

Casio highlighted that despite Guo’s claims of minimal involvement, evidence suggested otherwise. Guo had executed deeds of sale and intervened in obtaining a letter of no objection for Hongsheng as early as September 16, 2020. This letter was crucial for the establishment of the Pogo hub on the land she had acquired, contradicting her statements of non-involvement.

The POGO hub, initially managed by Hongsheng and later by Zun Yuan, is now under scrutiny. In December 2020, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided the facility, uncovering illegal activities linked to online gaming and human trafficking. Guo’s connections to Baofu Land Development Inc., the entity representing the land purchased for the POGO hub, further complicated her defense.

Guo has repeatedly denied any connection to the POGO operations, maintaining that she divested her ownership in Baofu when she ran for mayor. However, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) accused her of retaining business interests in Baofu, pointing out the incongruity between her claimed divestment amount of PHP 2.5 million and the actual value of the eight hectares of land she had invested in.

Adding to the controversy, Senator Win Gatchalian disclosed that Guo’s 36 bank accounts were used to finance the POGO operations in Bamban. This revelation, coupled with the rescue of 371 Filipinos and 497 foreigners from the raided POGO hub, has prompted concerned sectors to call for a complete ban on POGO activities in the country.

The Office of the Ombudsman placed Guo on preventive suspension, and an arrest warrant has been issued against her for failing to attend the hearing called by the Senate in order to investigate the extent of her involvement in POGO operations.