Cassandra Li Ong arrives in the Philippines on Aug. 22, 2024 following their apprehension in Indonesia. Bureau of Immigration

MANILA — Escape, capture, Congress - the escape of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Leal Guo from the Philippines and the subsequent arrestin Indonesia of two of her alleged accomplices have revealed links to 2 major illegal gaming operations in Luzon and how the reach of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations extends outside the country.

The curious case of Guo, 33, who was elected mayor of Bamban, Tarlac in 2022, started in March 13, 2024 after a police raid in her small town over reports of trafficking and torture of foreign nationals uncovered one of the biggest illegal offshore gaming operations in the country.

At least 400 people of different nationalities were arrested in the raid and later deported.

Subsequent government investigations would later raise alarming questions about Guo — that her birth was only registered when she was 17, that she had the same fingerprints as Chinese national  and, most crucially, that she had applied for multiple clearances for Baofu Land Development Inc before supposedly divesting from the company to enter local politics.

READ: 'POGO-politics': Suspected China ties of Tarlac town mayor alarms solon

An immigration bureau report that Guo had slipped past authorities and fled, first to Singapore and then Indonesia, last month, sparked an uproar but seemed inevitable after months of snubbing a Senate investigation.

Then came a break: News that Alice’s supposed sister, Shiela, and accomplice, Cassandra Li Ong — both linked to the Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga — had been arrested in Batam, Indonesia.

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said it was a Lucky South 99 ex-boss, Singaporean national Zhang Jie, who had helped Guo’s group make hotel reservations in Batam.

READ: DOJ explains basis of arrest of Cassy Ong, Shiela Guo 

Shiela and Cassandra were brought back to the Philippines where they are now facing money laundering charges.

In her testimony before the Senate panel, Shiela said she and siblings Alice and Wesley traveled by van from their Bamban, Tarlac farm to an unidentified port last July.

They then traveled by boat before being transferred to a larger vessel that brought them to Malaysia, where they stayed for several days, before boarding a plane to Singapore.

It was in Singapore that the Guo siblings met with Ong — representative of the shuttered Lucky South 99 gambling hub — before their travel to Batam, where they split up and before Shiela and Cassandra were arrested.

Philippine immigration authorities said Alice Guo is now in Jakarta. The Bureau of Immigration has asked Indonesian authorities to deport her.

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission believes Alice Guo may be headed for the Golden Triangle, 

the crime-infested areas in Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, which are controlled by syndicates and triads and where Guo's family is believed to have business interests.

"They are part of a big criminal organization, 'yung Fujian Gang kung saan kabilang ang mga Guo ay kabahagi ng Golden Triangle triad,” PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio said.

(They are part of a big criminal organization, the Fujian Gang that is part of the Golden Triangle triad)

GUO SISTERS NOT ACTUALLY RELATED

Shiela, who admitted that she is a Chinese citizen sent to work in an embroidery business in the Philippines when she was 16, also admitted a curious fact — that Alice is not related to her by blood but was only introduced to her as her sister by her “foster father”, Jian Zhong Guo.

Her Philippine birth certificate and passport were all provided by Guo, with the National Bureau of Investigation revealing that Shiela’s real name is Zhang Mier based on her Chinese passport.

Ong, on the other hand, was more tight-lipped, insisting repeatedly that she did not want to testify on matters she might be facing criminal prosecution for.

A House quad committee cited her in contempt for refusing to answer questions and extender her initial 30-day detention until the investigation is completed.

READ: House quad comm cites Cassandra Ong in contempt anew for refusing to answer questions

Even before her appearance before the committee, Ong’s lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio said she had confirmed photos showing Ong posing with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Marcos and insinuated that illegal POGOs multiplied after Marcos took office.

This was swiftly denied by several officials, who pointed out that Ong’s photo with the Marcoses was taken in 2020, long before he became president.

PHOTO WITH MARCOS, OFFICIALS MUDDIES WATERS

Photos of government officials with controversial figures often surface when scandals are in the headlines. Politicians often point out that, as public figures, people they do not know often ask for photos to be taken with them.

The Department of Justice earlier said that the apprehension of former Lucky South 99 representative Ong and Shiela Guo in Indonesia together establishes the link between the Porac and Bamban POGOs.

Ong has denied any links to POGO operations, saying she only worked for Whirlwind Corp., the alleged firm leasing the Barangay Santa Cruz property to Lucky South 99, which is the illegal POGO raided in Porac, Pampanga last June.

She also denied that Alice Guo, the fugitive mayor, was her business partner or friend.

She, however, admitted one link to the Guo family — Alice’s brother, Wesley, is her boyfriend.

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