Hontiveros says Senate panel on women will hold final hearing on Alice Guo case

The Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality is set to conduct its final hearing into former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo's alleged link to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) in her town.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, the chairperson of the Senate panel, announced this on Thursday as she revealed that new information had surfaced regarding the entry of Chinese spies into the Philippines through POGOs.

According to Hontiveros, the committee's final hearing on the illegal operations of POGOs in Bamban and their alleged connections to Guo would take place on 26 November.

The senator added that during this hearing, she would disclose further details about suspected foreign espionage activities linked to these operators.

“Now that the early morning budget deliberations here in the Senate are over, it's time to proceed to the next and final hearing on the cases of criminality involving POGOs and the group of Guo Hua Ping or Alice Guo,” Hontiveros told reporters at the Kapihan sa Senado.

“We have gathered new information, especially regarding the presence of Chinese spies in the Philippines through POGOs,” she added.

During the Senate panel’s last hearing in October, Hontiveros presented a recorded interview with Wang Fugui, a former cellmate of She Zhijiang, who earlier revealed the alleged espionage operations of China in the Philippines in an Al Jazeera interview.

Wang corroborated claims made by She, who is currently detained in Thailand for human trafficking, forced labor, and scam sites, about Guo being in his dossier.

According to him, Guo’s campaign for the mayoral post in Bamban was arranged by China’s Ministry of State Security, the principal civilian intelligence, security, and secret police agency of the People's Republic of China.

Wang further implicated Guo as a spying agent of the China Ministry of State Security. He noted that the former Bamban mayor was indeed a spy but “not a special one.”

Guo, who has since denied all the allegations against her, is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Facility in Quezon City after her arrest in Indonesia in September for qualified human trafficking, a non-bailable offense.

Ban on POGOs

Hontiveros noted that despite President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Executive Order No. 74, which imposes an immediate ban on offshore and internet gaming in the country, there are so many things that have yet to be clarified.

“That is why in the next hearing, we will present the reforms to the law that need to be pushed here in the Senate due to the many irregularities and policy gaps we have observed in the proliferation of POGOs and their related crimes,” she said.

The lawmaker is referring to Senate Bill 2868, which bans all POGOs in the country and repeals Republic Act 11590, the only law that legitimized POGO operations in the Philippines.

The proposed measure, which was filed earlier this month, was heavily supported by the members of the upper legislative body.

According to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, the main author of the bill, Marcos may enact this into law within the 19th Congress or by June 2025.

In his third State of the Nation Address, Marcos announced the banning of all offshore gaming operators in the country. He instructed the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to wind down and cease all operations of POGOs by the end of the year.