By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS were on alert amid a Philippine hunt for a dismissed mayor accused of coddling illegal offshore gambling operations in the country, a senator said on Monday. Senator Sherwin T.
Gatchalian said he had talked with ambassadors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and was informed that their authorities were on alert for dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo. “She will be nabbed in Indonesia,” the senator told reporters in Filipino. Ms.
Guo fled the country and was believed to be hiding in Indonesia. He said law enforcers in Indonesia were on alert so it would be difficult for her to leave. “It will be difficult for her to move now.
” Ms. Guo has been accused of coddling an illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in Bamban, Tarlac, where she ran and won for the first time as mayor in 2022. The POGO has been linked to human trafficking and scams.
She’s facing an arrest warrant from the Senate for snubbing its hearings on her alleged POGO ties. The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) on Saturday said Ms. Guo was likely headed for mainland Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle, which spans the borders of Mekong River countries Laos, Thailand and Myanmar and is known for its weak law enforcement.
The triangle is widely known as a hub for organized crime, human trafficking and illicit trade. The PAOCC said two of Ms. Guo’s companions — her sister Sheila and Cassandra Li.