Chinese woman who faked nationality to become Philippines mayor jailed for trafficking

Manila: A Philippine court on Thursday sentenced Alice Guo, a Chinese national who became a mayor while masquerading as a Filipina, and seven others t...

Manila: A Philippine court on Thursday sentenced Alice Guo, a Chinese national who became a mayor while masquerading as a Filipina, and seven others to life in prison on human trafficking charges, state prosecutors said.

Guo, who served as mayor of a town north of Manila, was found guilty of overseeing a Chinese-operated online gambling centre where hundreds of people were forced to run scams or risk torture.

The sprawling complex, which included office buildings, luxury villas and a large swimming pool, was raided in March 2024 after a Vietnamese worker escaped and called police.

More than 700 Filipinos, Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysians, Taiwanese, Indonesians and Rwandans were found on site, along with documents allegedly showing that Guo was president of a company that owned the compound.

All eight defendants, some of whom were foreign nationals, were sentenced to life in prison, state prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas said outside a regional courthouse in Manila.