The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) believes that dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo could be heading to Asia's "Golden Triangle", a special economic zone located within the borders of Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand notorious for a range of illicit and criminal activities.

In a news briefing on Saturday, Aug. 24, PAOCC spokesman Dr. Winston Casio said, as far as the commission was concerned, Guo, also identified as Guo Hua Ping, will be heading to the Golden Triangle next as she continues to evade authorities.

"We’re confident that she’s trying to get into the Golden Triangle because the family, the Guo family, has business interests, gambling interests in Cambodia. So, that would be the safest bet that we have as of this moment," he said.

"The Golden Triangle, those countries are very porous in boundaries as I imagined, and we know what the Golden Triangle entails when we talk about transnational organized crime," he added.

According to Casio, the Guo family supposedly has interests in the gambling scene in the Golden Triangle.

"As usual, it’s more on offshore gaming operations – gambling. The Golden Triangle is very open to gambling operations," he said.

"Hindi na sila POGO doon (They are no longer POGOs there), they are gambling operators. They are big. In fact, these names, these organizations have cropped up in a UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) report released Jan. 20, 2024," he added.

Why the Golden Triangle?

Casio explained that Myanmar and Laos, including Cambodia where the Guo family supposedly also has gambling operations, have no extradition treaty with the Philippines.

"If I am a criminal from the Philippines, I will not go to countries where extradition between that territory and the Philippines exists and I will not go to territories that are party to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC)," he said.

"I will never go to those places kasi madali po akong ibabalik (because I can be easily sent back)," he added.

Casio likewise said that Guo would not dare go back to China due to the nature of the crimes being linked to her in the Philippines.

"She will definitely not go to China in as much as she is already a person of interest as far as China’s concerned because she’s accused of a serious crime in the Philippines in relation to illegal gambling," he said.

"We know how strict China is in relation to gambling in their own territory. So, definitely, she would not be heading to any of those territories," he added.

Tracking Alice Guo

Based on PAOCC's investigation, the last sighting of Alice Guo in the Philippines was on July 14 in a private resort in the western tip of Luzon.

"When we attempted to serve the warrant so to speak, and the mission order against Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping, our source inside that particular location informed us that she left in two speed boats together with some members of her party in the early hours of our operation," Casio revealed.

The PAOCC official likewise revealed part of Alice Guo's movement since she made her sneaky departure:
 

• July 17: Left Denpasar, Indonesia via Batik Air and arrived at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (July 18, 12:05 a.m.) using her Philippine passport
• July 21: Left Kuala Lumpur via Jetstar Airways to Singapore 
• Aug. 18: Left Singapore for Batam, Indonesia via ferry boat

Casio said Indonesian authorities are confident that Guo is "still secured" within the Batam area. Meanwhile, they have also received reports that her brother, Wesley Guo, attempted to leave Batam for Hong Kong.

"As to whether the attempt was successful, we have yet to receive reports from our Hong Kong counterparts," he said.

Unfortunately, Casio said no Blue or Red Notice was issued to facilitate Alice Guo's immediate return to the Philippines.

"We have no Blue Notice in as much as that’s still being applied by our local prosecutorial team," he said.

"We have no Red Notice because there is no warrant of arrest for her yet, the basis for a Red Notice. The case that we filed against Alice Guo is still pending resolution before the Department of Justice (DOJ) – so that is a qualified trafficking in person case," he added.
 

'Let them remain as Filipinos'

Casio warned against hastily canceling the passports of Guo and her siblings, saying they might become "stateless" should China do the same, which could lead to a bigger problem.

"The People’s Republic of China has a policy that once you cancel your passport, your nationality and acquire your nationality of another passport – it’s difficult for you to reacquire that nationality, that citizenship.  Then what would happen to Sheila, Alice, Wesley, et al? They would become stateless individuals," he said.

"I hate it if they would become refugees and they would fall under the framework of the United Nations Commission for Refugees because they would take on a different legal character and they would be protected by that legal character," he added.

Casio said Guo should pay for her crimes in the Philippines.

"Let us be cautious in canceling the passport. Let them remain as Filipinos first; then papanagutin natin sila dito; habang nasa loob ng kulungan cancel their passport (prosecute them and while they're in prison, let's cancel their passports)," he said.