Philippines investigates escape of former mayor accused of criminal ties to China

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Wednesday his government is investigating how Alice Guo, a former mayor accused of having ties to Chinese crime syndicates, managed to flee the country.

A day after ordering the cancellation of Guo's Philippine passport following her escape, Marcos warned that “heads would roll,” a claim confirmed by foreign immigration records.

“We will expose the perpetrators who abused the people's trust and contributed to their flight,” Marcos said in a statement. “Those responsible will be suspended and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Guo, who is wanted by the Senate for refusing to attend hearings on her alleged criminal ties, denies the allegations and insists she is a natural-born Filipino citizen and faces “malicious accusations.”

The Senate investigation began in May after authorities raided a casino in Guo's sleepy farming town of Bamban in March, uncovering, according to authorities, fraudulent operations carried out from a facility built on land partly owned by the former mayor.

Guo was recently removed from office by the Ombudsman for serious misconduct.

A spokesman for the Presidential Commission to Combat Organized Crime said Guo traveled to Malaysia and Singapore last month and to Indonesia this month using her Philippine passport.

Guo's lawyer Stephen David said she was still in the Philippines but did not provide further details.

The case comes at a time of growing suspicion in the Philippines about China's activities due to an escalating dispute over reefs and shoals in the busy South China Sea waterway, to which both countries have overlapping claims.