November 21, 2025
MANILA – A Pasig court has found former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo guilty of qualified trafficking over the alleged criminal activities discovered in an illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in her town.
Speaking to reporters outside the Pasig City Hall of Justice on Thursday, Deputy State Prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas said the trial court convicted Guo and seven of her 15 other co-accused.
“The entire Baofu compound is also forfeited in favor of the government,” Torrevillas said.
According to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), the court sentenced Guo and three others to reclusion perpetua (life imprisonment) and imposed a P2 million fine.
The Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 167 also ordered her immediate transfer from the Pasig City Jail to the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City.
Guo, along with her 15 co-accused, did not appear in person during the promulgation of the decision on Thursday and attended only via videoconference.
Earlier in May, the Pasig court denied her motions for leave to file a demurrer to evidence.
The case against the dismissed mayor stemmed from a complaint filed by the Philippine National Police and PAOCC, following a raid last year on the Pogo operated by Zun Yuan Technology.
The Pogo was located on a property owned by Baofu Land Development Inc.
Guo was implicated through her leasing company, Baofu, which rented out spaces to Zun Yuan.
The Department of Justice previously said Guo was charged with violating a provision of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022, which penalizes persons who “organize, provide financial support, or direct other persons to commit acts of trafficking.”
Also named as respondents in the DOJ complaint were former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center deputy director general and Zun Yuan Technology representative Dennis Cunanan and other executives and founders of three Pogo companies.
According to Torrevillas, Cunanan, as well as Chinese nationals Zhang Ruijin and Lin Baoying, remained at large. /dl/abc