Alice Guo found guilty of qualified human trafficking

Former Bamban mayor Alice Guo has been found guilty of qualified human trafficking.

Citing the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, The Philippine STAR reported that Guo and several others were sentenced to reclusion perpetua on Thursday, Nov. 12. They were also asked to pay a P2 million fine.

In June 2024, authorities led by the PAOCC filed a criminal complaint against Guo and 13 others for their alleged ties to a raided POGO hub involved in human trafficking and scams.

In the case filed before the Department of Justice, Guo—along with former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center deputy director general Dennis Cunanan and others—were charged with violation of Sections 4 (Acts of Trafficking in Persons) and 6 (Qualified Trafficking in Persons) of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, as amended by RA 10364 and further amended by RA 11862.

The respondents included Guo's alleged business partner Huang Zhiyang, a fugitive in China, as well as Zhang Ruijin and Baoying Li, who were both involved in the biggest money laundering case in Singapore.

OJ Usec. Nicky Ty, who also sits as the chairman of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, said in a press conference at the time that pieces of evidence include Guo's name appearing in a letter of no objection from the local government (of Bamban), as well as several documents found in Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated inside the Baofu compound.

"Lumabas din ang kanyang involvement doon sa lesser company," he added.

Prosecutor Benjamin Samson, meanwhile, said Cunanan was part of a "grand conspiracy" to commit labor trafficking.

“We discovered that the Zun Yuan operation actually started with one corporation which was Baofu, and then another corporation was created," Samson said. "In one of the corporations, we found a document wherein the name of Mr. Dennis Cunanan appeared."

Sen. Risa Hontiveros previously showed documents in which Cunanan introduced himself as the "authorized representative" for the Hong Sheng POGO in Bamban and the Lucky South POGO in Porac.

Guo, in a statement, previously shut down the said claims, noting that “mere connections to companies or individuals do not suffice as grounds for labeling someone a conspirator.

"Having connections to companies or individuals, especially when vague, is not enough to link someone to a case, particularly one involving human trafficking," she said.

Guo emphasized that she was not in any way involved with Zun Yuan Technology, Inc. or any other POGO hubs in the Philippines. She also said then that she was confident that there was not enough evidence to support the accusations against her.