Is Bambam mayor a Chinese spy?

[Mike J]

Another follow up story, getting stranger by the day even for the Philippines.  

Maybe something like Calvin and Hobbes is next?

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/907637/alice-guo-s-parents-have-no-birth-records-psa-data/story/

Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo's supposed parents do not have birth records in the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Senator Risa Hontiveros said while citing PSA data.

At the Senate inquiry on the alleged illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations in Bamban, an official of the PSA said there was a "high possibility" that Angelito Guo and Amelia Leal—the names which appeared in Guo's late-registration birth certificate—did not exist.

Hontiveros during the Senate hearing said both parents were declared as "Filipinos."

It was also revealed that the couple have three more children. However, upon checking their children's birth certificates, it was found that there were different marriage dates indicated for Leal and Angelito Guo.

Citing information from the PSA, Hontiveros said Guo’s parents had no record of marriage. PSA data showed that neither of the mayor's parents even have birth records.

Who is Alice Guo? No Tarlac politician knows her, says Marcos
"Maitatanong talaga, hindi po kaya Angelito Guo and Amelia Leal Guo don't even exist? Itong dalawang taong ito, na according to the documentary evidence, have three children, but according to you mayor, only have one child, apparently do not even exist," Hontiveros said.

(Is it possible that Angelito Guo and Amelia Leal Guo don't even exist? These two people, according to the documentary evidence, have three children, but according to the mayor only have one child, apparently do not even exist.)

PSA legal service director Eliezer Ambatali said there was a "high possibility" that these people do not exist but there was also a chance that they only failed to have their births registered.

"May posibilidad po na hindi nakapag-parehistro lang po ang mga magulang ni mayor. Puwedeng mangyari 'yun… Pero sa ngayon, maaari din at mataas ang posibilidad, na hindi existing ang mga tao,” Ambatali said.

(There is a possibility that the mayor's parents were not able to register their birth. That can happen... But right now, it's also possible and highly probable that those people don't exist.)

Birth certificates

Guo said that she was not the one who prepared her own nor her siblings' birth certificates,  thus she had no idea why there were discrepancies in the documents.

"Your honor, 'yan po ang truth. Hindi namin pinag-uusapan sa bahay. Medyo sensitive 'yung topic kaya hindi talaga namin pinag-uusapan," the mayor told Senator Raffy Tulfo when asked why she did not ask her father about her family background.

(Your honor, that's the truth. We don't talk about it at home. The topic is quite sensitive so we don't really talk about it.)

Guo also affirmed that she was willing to undergo a lie detector test to prove her claim.

Last Monday, Guo admitted that she was a "love child of her father with his househelper. She said her biological mother left her when she was a child, and that she was raised and kept strictly hidden inside a farm to avoid raising suspicions about her identity.

The mayor also reiterated that she received her education through home-tutoring services and only knew her mother's name when her birth was officially registered. She also said that she wishes to meet her biological mother to dispel the rumors against her and prove that she is a Filipino citizen.

Inconsistencies

During Wednesday's hearing, senators also questioned why Guo introduced her father as Chinese, when he was declared as a Filipino citizen in her birth certificate. The mayor had admitted that her father was a Chinese passport holder.

Guo, who spoke mostly in Tagalog during the hearing, also admitted that she only knows a little bit of Kapampangan, which is a native language in Tarlac.

The Senate women, children, family relations, and gender equality committee, chaired by Hontiveros, has been conducting an investigation on the raided Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in Bamban, Tarlac last March.

The POGO, Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated, operated inside the Baofu compound behind the Bamban municipal hall.

Hontiveros earlier revealed that Guo was one of Baofu's incorporators, citing Baofu's 2019 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian earlier alleged Guo's possible involvement with the Bamban POGO hub that was raided, citing a Sangguniang Bayan Resolution indicating that Guo — who was then a private citizen — supposedly applied for the license to operate the Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc.

Hongsheng was raided in February 2023. The same compound was then used by Zun Yuan Technology Inc., the company that was raided this May

[scott h]

40 minutes ago, Mike J said:

getting stranger by the day even for the Philippines.

Yep this is fast approaching Tom Clancy spy novel territory.

Is she a poor country girl made good, or a deep plant Chinese sleeper agent, being groomed to run for president in 2036? Happened before, google Cambridge five spy ring.

[BrettGC]

7 minutes ago, scott h said:

Cambridge five spy ring.

Fascinating story that one.  There's been some great books particularly John La Carre's "Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy" which was later turned into a BBC mini-series. There's still some debate about a sixth member, including a potential head of MI5 back in the 50's. 

Frederick Forstyth's "The Fourth Protocol" has a fictionalised Kim Philby as a central character but I'd imagine it's pretty spot on with regards to his life in the USSR after he defected. 

[OnMyWay]

On 5/23/2024 at 7:12 AM, scott h said:

Yep this is fast approaching Tom Clancy spy novel territory.

The plot thickens!  The mayor has been suspended and the PNP relieved the entire police for from their duties!

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/06/05/2360459/entire-bamban-police-force-sacked-amid-pogo-probe

MANILA, Philippines — Following the suspension of Mayor Alice Guo by the Office of the Ombudsman, the entire police force of Bamban, Tarlac was sacked on Monday amid an investigation into the illegal activities of a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in the municipality.

All 49 officers of the Bamban police station were relieved from their posts. They were transferred to the regional personnel holding and administrative unit of the Central Luzon police, according to Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo.

The sacked police officers were replaced by personnel of the provincial mobile force company, Tarlac City police and municipal police stations in Tarlac.

Fajardo said Central Luzon police director Brig. Gen. Jose Hidalgo Jr. led the turnover rites at the Bamban police on Monday.

The relieved police officers are being investigated to determine if they committed lapses after failing to monitor the reported criminal activities in the POGO facility, Fajardo said.

They will also undergo a focused reformation and reorientation seminar at the PNP Training Service Annex School in Subic, she said.

Fajardo said police officers who are handling cases, especially those involving illegal drugs, are allowed to attend court hearings even if they were relieved.

Apart from lapses, Fajardo said they also want to find out if the police officers received favors from Guo in exchange for turning a blind eye on the POGO’s criminal activities.

“We have to be clear on this. Although we get support from local government units, the performance of our duty should not be compromised,” she said.

Tax evasion
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) is eyeing to file charges of tax evasion and violation of securities laws against Guo.

The cases are separate from those filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) against Guo in relation to the POGO hub raid in Bamban in March.

Guo was suspended by the ombudsman following a complaint from the DILG that she issued a business permit to Zun Yuan Technology despite it having an expired license.

According to PAOCC spokesman Winston Romeo Casio, other local officials of Bamban may be included in the cases.

“As far as we are concerned, we have found administrative violations,” he said.

On tax evasion charges, Casio said they have yet to compute the amount involved, but he believes it would be significant, taking note of Guo’s lavish lifestyle.

The charges will also include the years when Guo was involved with the POGO firm when she was still a private citizen.

The alleged violation of the Securities Regulation Code involves Guo’s reported connections with the illegally operating firm, Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc. which was raided by authorities in Bamban last year, and the Baofu Land Development Inc.

Casio said the PAOCC welcomed the preventive suspension issued against Guo.

Last March, authorities raided a 10-hectare compound operated by Zun Yuan, which led to the rescue of around 800 alleged victims of human trafficking and torture.

Guo was subjected to a probe after an electric meter of Zun Yuan was found to be under her name. Authorities also discovered a vehicle inside the POGO facility registered under the mayor’s name.

Pagcor hits Guo’s lawyer
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR)maintained that the agency has nothing to do with the issuance of local business permits and licenses.

“We are also not responsible for the inspection of buildings that are not under our jurisdiction. We issue licenses based on our own guidelines and the documents submitted by applicants,” Pagcor said in a statement.

“Pagcor’s regulations are clear cut. If our licensees are found violating the terms of their licenses, whether these are provisional licenses or regular licenses, they are fined and penalized and, in the most serious cases, the licenses are revoked,” the state gaming regulator added.

Pagcor issued the statement after Guo’s lawyer, Nicole Rose Margaret Jamilla, tried to pass the blame on the government agency the reasons for the criminal cases filed by the DILG against her client.

“It is only under the present Pagcor administration that the real anomalies in the former POGO activities have been exposed,” Pagcor said.

Ten raids against POGOs have been successfully conducted, leading to exposure of criminal activities being perpetrated by some of the licensees, the agency said.

Birth registration law
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada has filed a bill seeking to penalize false statements in late registration of births following the Senate probe on Guo’s “shady” Filipino background.

Estrada filed a proposed Delayed Registration of Birth Act amid findings during the Senate hearings that Guo proclaimed herself a Filipino, with a Filipino housemaid as her biological mother when her mother is actually Chinese.

“This bill will put more teeth in the law, which has gaps about late registration of births. I hope this will serve as a deterrent,” he said.

According to Estrada, the existing law on civil registry was dated 1930 and lacked guidelines on delayed birth registration, which is allowed 30 days after birth.

The bill mandates the local civil registry to do due diligence in evaluating documents submitted by parents and in verifying the information in the barangay where the late registrant lives.

In the case where one parent is a foreign national, the parents should submit pertinent documents such as marriage certificate, passports and the parents’ own birth records.

Parents should give a reason why their child, whether minor or of legal age, was registered beyond the 30-day period after birth.

Making false statements in the application would be penalized with up to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to P250,000, according to Estrada’s bill.

A public official violating the proposed law will be dismissed and perpetually barred from public service.

Estrada said there is a need to fine tune the 1930 civil registry law because foreign nationals abused the gaps and registered late with the Philippine Statistics Authority despite not being of any Filipino descent.

Guo was accused of benefiting from this loophole because she got her birth certificate at 17 years old and used her supposed Filipino citizenship to build her business in Bamban and get elected as mayor. — Daphne Galvez, Marc Jayson Cayabyab

[craftbeerlover]

16 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

The plot thickens!  The mayor has been suspended and the PNP relieved the entire police for from their duties!

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/06/05/2360459/entire-bamban-police-force-sacked-amid-pogo-probe

MANILA, Philippines — Following the suspension of Mayor Alice Guo by the Office of the Ombudsman, the entire police force of Bamban, Tarlac was sacked on Monday amid an investigation into the illegal activities of a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in the municipality.

All 49 officers of the Bamban police station were relieved from their posts. They were transferred to the regional personnel holding and administrative unit of the Central Luzon police, according to Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo.

The sacked police officers were replaced by personnel of the provincial mobile force company, Tarlac City police and municipal police stations in Tarlac.

Fajardo said Central Luzon police director Brig. Gen. Jose Hidalgo Jr. led the turnover rites at the Bamban police on Monday.

The relieved police officers are being investigated to determine if they committed lapses after failing to monitor the reported criminal activities in the POGO facility, Fajardo said.

They will also undergo a focused reformation and reorientation seminar at the PNP Training Service Annex School in Subic, she said.

Fajardo said police officers who are handling cases, especially those involving illegal drugs, are allowed to attend court hearings even if they were relieved.

Apart from lapses, Fajardo said they also want to find out if the police officers received favors from Guo in exchange for turning a blind eye on the POGO’s criminal activities.

“We have to be clear on this. Although we get support from local government units, the performance of our duty should not be compromised,” she said.

Tax evasion
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) is eyeing to file charges of tax evasion and violation of securities laws against Guo.

The cases are separate from those filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) against Guo in relation to the POGO hub raid in Bamban in March.

Guo was suspended by the ombudsman following a complaint from the DILG that she issued a business permit to Zun Yuan Technology despite it having an expired license.

According to PAOCC spokesman Winston Romeo Casio, other local officials of Bamban may be included in the cases.

“As far as we are concerned, we have found administrative violations,” he said.

On tax evasion charges, Casio said they have yet to compute the amount involved, but he believes it would be significant, taking note of Guo’s lavish lifestyle.

The charges will also include the years when Guo was involved with the POGO firm when she was still a private citizen.

The alleged violation of the Securities Regulation Code involves Guo’s reported connections with the illegally operating firm, Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc. which was raided by authorities in Bamban last year, and the Baofu Land Development Inc.

Casio said the PAOCC welcomed the preventive suspension issued against Guo.

Last March, authorities raided a 10-hectare compound operated by Zun Yuan, which led to the rescue of around 800 alleged victims of human trafficking and torture.

Guo was subjected to a probe after an electric meter of Zun Yuan was found to be under her name. Authorities also discovered a vehicle inside the POGO facility registered under the mayor’s name.

Pagcor hits Guo’s lawyer
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR)maintained that the agency has nothing to do with the issuance of local business permits and licenses.

“We are also not responsible for the inspection of buildings that are not under our jurisdiction. We issue licenses based on our own guidelines and the documents submitted by applicants,” Pagcor said in a statement.

“Pagcor’s regulations are clear cut. If our licensees are found violating the terms of their licenses, whether these are provisional licenses or regular licenses, they are fined and penalized and, in the most serious cases, the licenses are revoked,” the state gaming regulator added.

Pagcor issued the statement after Guo’s lawyer, Nicole Rose Margaret Jamilla, tried to pass the blame on the government agency the reasons for the criminal cases filed by the DILG against her client.

“It is only under the present Pagcor administration that the real anomalies in the former POGO activities have been exposed,” Pagcor said.

Ten raids against POGOs have been successfully conducted, leading to exposure of criminal activities being perpetrated by some of the licensees, the agency said.

Birth registration law
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada has filed a bill seeking to penalize false statements in late registration of births following the Senate probe on Guo’s “shady” Filipino background.

Estrada filed a proposed Delayed Registration of Birth Act amid findings during the Senate hearings that Guo proclaimed herself a Filipino, with a Filipino housemaid as her biological mother when her mother is actually Chinese.

“This bill will put more teeth in the law, which has gaps about late registration of births. I hope this will serve as a deterrent,” he said.

According to Estrada, the existing law on civil registry was dated 1930 and lacked guidelines on delayed birth registration, which is allowed 30 days after birth.

The bill mandates the local civil registry to do due diligence in evaluating documents submitted by parents and in verifying the information in the barangay where the late registrant lives.

In the case where one parent is a foreign national, the parents should submit pertinent documents such as marriage certificate, passports and the parents’ own birth records.

Parents should give a reason why their child, whether minor or of legal age, was registered beyond the 30-day period after birth.

Making false statements in the application would be penalized with up to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to P250,000, according to Estrada’s bill.

A public official violating the proposed law will be dismissed and perpetually barred from public service.

Estrada said there is a need to fine tune the 1930 civil registry law because foreign nationals abused the gaps and registered late with the Philippine Statistics Authority despite not being of any Filipino descent.

Guo was accused of benefiting from this loophole because she got her birth certificate at 17 years old and used her supposed Filipino citizenship to build her business in Bamban and get elected as mayor. — Daphne Galvez, Marc Jayson Cayabyab

We have been intently following this as well.   Appears there is a major crackdown on the illegal pogo activities throughout the country.   The damage the previous administration did to this country is astounding and still unfolding.    This latest raid was not far away:   157 foreigners, 29 Filipinos arrested in Pampanga Pogo raid (inquirer.net)

MANILA, Philippines—Authorities raided a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo) hub in Pampanga and arrested 158 foreigners and 29 Filipinos on Tuesday, according to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).

In a report on Wednesday, PAOCC said its personnel, along with joint operatives of the Philippine National Police units, apprehended 187 individuals inside the Pogo complex along Friendship Highway, Angeles City.

Of the 158 foreigners, 126 were Chinese, 23 were Vietnamese, four were Malaysians, four were Burmese, and one was Korean.

“They are currently being held for questioning over alleged scam operations in Angeles City, Pampanga,” the commission said.

PAOCC’s report further disclosed that its operation stemmed from a warrant issued by the Presiding Judge Maria Belinda Rama of Malolos Regional Trial Court, Branch 14, against officers and employees of Lucky South 99, which the commission said is “the biggest facility in Pampanga with a reported total number of 46 buildings including villas and other structures, as well as a golf course.”

The warrant, on the other hand, was issued following a report PAOCC received from confidential informants detailing how a female foreigner was sexually trafficked in the area while male foreigners were tortured.

Before the arrest of 187 individuals, PAOCC said some workers had already started fleeing the compound.

To prevent others from escaping, “monitoring teams posted outside the compound started to create choke points and roadblocks to all known exit points of the Lucky South facility and conducted a welfare check, to identify and rescue possible labor trafficked victims,” it added.

“All foreign nationals are now undergoing immigration biometrics,” the commission said.

 

Edited June 6 by Mike J
Added text of article (forum rules)