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Sam Beltran

Indonesian authorities had detained the sister and another known associate of Alice Guo, the fugitive former Philippine mayor accused of being a Chinese spy, days after evidence was revealed indicating Guo had fled the country in July.
The Philippines’ Department of Justice confirmed on Thursday that the individuals in Indonesian custody are Cassandra Li Ong, who has been linked to a raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo) in Pampanga, and Sheila Guo, the ex-mayor’s sister.
Ong’s and Sheila’s detainment comes just a few days after Philippine authorities said that Guo had arrived in Indonesia over the weekend via Batam Island, where the ex-mayor is believed to still be hiding.
Guo had been the mayor of Bamban, a town in Tarlac province. She first came under investigation after she was linked to a Pogo in Tarlac that was raided by authorities in March.
“We found the connection between Alice Guo and Cassandra Li Ong, which means that the Bamban and Porac [Pogos] are closely related,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla told reporters.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Law and Human Rights said immigration officers in Batam had flagged the two as “suspicious foreigners” in Batam, prompting them to investigate. They found that Ong and Sheila were both named subjects in a letter from the Philippine government informing other countries about Guo’s case.
Ong and Sheila returned to the Philippines later on Thursday, the country’s Bureau of Immigration confirmed.


Senator Risa Hontiveros, who has been leading the Senate hearings into Guo’s case, had earlier posted a video to her social media channels showing Ong and Sheila Guo in detainment, along with a message commending Indonesian authorities for their decisive action.
On Monday, Hontiveros revealed intelligence that Guo had already fled the country a month before. Guo’s lawyer denied this, saying that he had just spoken to the ex-mayor but could not confirm her whereabouts.
Guo previously faced scrutiny at a Senate hearing for her links to the raided Pogo in Tarlac, where authorities found evidence of criminal activities. Operatives also uncovered a billing statement and a vehicle registered to Guo’s name during the raid, and later discovered that the mayor partly owned the land on which the compound was built.
Officials had also earlier suspected Guo’s involvement with the Lucky South 99 Pogo compound in Pampanga, where authorities rescued nearly 200 foreign and local workers and uncovered evidence of human trafficking, torture, and scam activities.
Guo was also grilled over her Philippine citizenship after she could not provide documentation such as school records and a hospital birth certificate.
A National Bureau of Investigation’s fingerprint test found that her prints matched those of Guo Hua Ping, who entered the Philippines from China as a young teen with her family in 2003 on a special investor resident visa.
The Philippine Senate later issued an arrest warrant against Guo for her subsequent no-shows and filed a qualified human trafficking complaint before the Justice Department, which remains pending with local prosecutors.

But according to information from the Bureau of Immigration, Guo had already arrived in Malaysia on July 18 and travelled to Singapore shortly after to meet her family.
“According to my source, Alice Guo went to Singapore, where she met her parents, Lin Wen Yi and Guo Jian Zhong. The couple flew in from China on July 28, and seemingly had a reunion with Wesley Guo and Cassandra Ong,” Hontiveros said on Monday.
Hontiveros also confirmed that the passports of the fugitive mayor, her siblings, and Ong had been reported to Interpol’s Philippine Centre for Transnational Crime.
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Immigration said Guo could have bypassed travel checks and left the country illegally, which would leave no records of her exit despite the bureau issuing an immigration lookout bulletin order requiring authorities to monitor her whereabouts.
Immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval said Guo could have used a private plane or “she might have taken the route that many human traffickers are illegally abusing, crossing the borders to our seas in the south if she was able to get a boat or yacht to Malaysia”.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr previously said “heads will roll” over Guo’s escape, and authorities have already sought the cancellation of Guo’s Philippine passport as well as those of her siblings, Wesley and Sheila, and Ong’s.
Marcos Jnr ordered the closure of Pogos in June after numerous reports of crimes linked to the offshore firms, which typically serve Chinese customers overseas, surfaced.


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The Philippines

Philippines’ fugitive ex-mayor Alice Guo’s sister and associate apprehended in Indonesia

A photo of Alice Guo’s sister Sheila Guo and Cassandra Li Ong in the custody of Indonesian authorities shared by Philippine Senator Risa Hontiveros. Photo: Instagram / @hontiverosrisa 

The Philippine Senate has issued an arrest warrant against Alice Guo. Photo: Facebook / Alice Guo

Marcos Jnr warns ‘heads will roll’ over Alice Guo’s escape from Philippines

Former Bamban mayor Alice Guo. Photo: Facebook/AliceLealGuo

Where did Alice Guo go? Philippine mayor who allegedly spied for China may have fled country

Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo. The Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) fingerprint examination previously found Mayor Guo’s fingerprints were identical to those of a woman named Guo Hua Ping, her suspected real identity, who came to the country as a teen in 2003 with a Chinese passport. Photo: Facebook/AliceLealGuo

A poster showing support for Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo in Bamban, province of Tarlac, on July 19. Photo: AFP

Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo. Photo: Facebook/AliceLealGuo

Alice Guo saga exposes Philippine agencies and electoral system’s potential flaws

Alice Leal Guo, former mayor of the municipality of Bamban in Tarlac province. Photo: Facebook/AliceLealGuo

A poster of Alice Leal Guo, a former mayor of Bamban municipality in the Tarlac province. Photo: AFP

The national flags of the Philippines and China near the Tiananmen Gate during the visit of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr in Beijing on January 3, 2023. Photo: AFP

‘200 Alice Guos’: fugitive Philippine mayor’s case stokes fears of Chinese infiltration

Alice Leal Guo, the fugitive mayor of Bamban. Her case appears to be just the tip of the iceberg. Photo: Facebook/AliceLealGuo

A screen shows a live gambling platform run by an online gaming operator in the Philippines. Photo: Tory Ho

Scandal deepens around Philippine fugitive mayor Alice Guo with freezing of assets

Bamban Mayor Alice Guo. Photo: Facebook/AliceLealGuo

The Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) fingerprint examination found Mayer Guo’s fingerprints were identical to those of a woman named Guo Hua Ping, her suspected real identity, who came to the country as a Chinese national teen in 2003 with a Chinese passport. Photo: Facebook/AliceLealGuo

Senator Risa Hontiveros at the senate hearing on January 23. Photo: Facebook/hontiverosrisa

Former President Rodrigo Duterte poses with Michael Yang (furthest to right) after a private meeting in Malacañan Palace in 2017. Photo: Toto Lozano/Presidential Photo/PNA

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Southeast Asia

The whereabouts of the former Philippine mayor, who has been accused of being a Chinese spy and linked to organised crime, remain unknown


The whereabouts of the former Philippine mayor, who has been accused of being a Chinese spy and linked to organised crime, remain unknown.
