The Pasig City Regional Trial Court has found dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo guilty of qualified trafficking in connection with the criminal activities discovered inside an illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in her municipality.

Aside from Guo, the court also sentenced Rachelle Malonzo Carreon, Jaimielyn Cruz and Walter Wong Rong to reclusion perpetua and imposed a P2-million fine. Guo and her 15 co-accused did not personally appear during Thursday’s promulgation and attended the proceedings via videoconference.

The conviction stemmed from a complaint filed by the Philippine National Police and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission following a raid last year on the Pogo operated by Zun Yuan Technology. The facility sat on a property owned by Baofu Land Development Inc., and Guo was implicated through her leasing company Baofu, which rented out spaces to Zun Yuan.

Guo had earlier been dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman for grave misconduct after she was linked to the Chinese-run online gambling center in Bamban, where hundreds of workers were allegedly forced to run scams under the threat of torture.

In June, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 34 also dismissed Guo from her post after granting a quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General. The ruling stated that Chinese citizen Guo Hua Ping and Alice Leal Guo were the same person, declaring her appointment and entire mayoral term void.

Previously, the Department of Justice charged Guo for allegedly violating a provision of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022, which penalizes individuals who “organize, provide financial support, or direct other persons to commit acts of trafficking.”

Also named as respondents were former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center deputy director general and Zun Yuan Technology representative Dennis Cunanan, as well as executives and founders of three Pogo companies.