Alice Guo Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Pogo-Linked Human Trafficking

Former Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, who was earlier identified by authorities as a Chinese national linked to criminal activities involving Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), was sentenced on Thursday to life imprisonment after a Pasig court found her guilty of organizing and directing a large-scale human trafficking operation.

The ruling marks one of the country’s most significant court decisions related to Pogo-related crimes. Senators who spearheaded the Senate investigation into Guo’s alleged “criminal empire” involving Filipino and Chinese victims called the conviction a major step in the fight against transnational crime syndicates.

In a detailed 111-page decision, the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) found Guo—also known as Guo Hua Ping—guilty beyond reasonable doubt of qualified trafficking. The court ordered Guo and her coaccused to pay a P2-million fine each and to compensate the human trafficking victims who filed complaints.

Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty described the outcome as a landmark decision, noting that it is the first conviction under the expanded anti-trafficking law for “organizing and directing others to commit human trafficking.” He said the ruling could shape future prosecutions involving Pogo hubs.

“That’s our theory so we can implicate people who, even if they were not the ones who physically hurt, recruited, or exploited the trafficking victims themselves, were still involved in establishing the organization where the human trafficking took place and get them convicted,” Ty said in an interview in Makati City.

The conviction also covered several other individuals involved in the operation inside the Baofu compound in Bamban, where the raided Zun Yuan Technology Pogo hub was located.

The Pasig RTC Branch 167 found Jaimielyn Santos Cruz, Rachelle Malonzo Carreon, and Walter Wong Rong guilty of organizing trafficking activities. Meanwhile, Wang Weili, Wuli Dong, Nong Ding Chang, and Lang Xu Po were found guilty of direct acts of trafficking, while eight others were acquitted.

The 7.9-hectare Baofu Land Development Inc. property, where two major Pogo hubs operated, was ordered forfeited in favor of the government. Guo and her 15 coaccused attended the promulgation via videoconference.

The ruling described in detail how Guo, along with fugitive coaccused Huang Zhiyang, Zhang Ruijin, and Baoying Lin, financed and operated Baofu as a base for forced labor and online scamming activities.

According to the court, Guo and the three fugitives were the “beneficial owners” of both Hongsheng and Zun Yuan—Pogo hubs raided by authorities.

The decision cited bills for the entire compound from 2019 to 2024, which were under Guo’s name and paid using checks she signed from the account of QJJ Genetics, a corporation owned by her family.

It also documented how victims were enticed with promises of legitimate employment before they were subjected to forced labor.

Some were recruited through a company called “Yiheng Co. Ltd.,” which the victims believed to be a Pogo entity offering free lodging. “It is not a Pogo company because it did not operate an online gaming business,” the court said.

The court detailed how Guo, described as the central figure in the “hub” of the operation, used her position as Bamban mayor to approve business permits for Baofu and Zun Yuan despite deficiencies.

She also failed to revoke Hongsheng’s business permit after multiple raids and did not initiate investigations even after police reported that a trafficking victim had escaped and sought help.

Following her conviction, the court ordered Guo and her female coaccused transferred to the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City.

The decision comes months after another Manila court disqualified Guo from holding public office, ruling that she was “undoubtedly a Chinese citizen.”

“Giving full weight and credence to the ‘infallible science of fingerprint examination,’” Manila RTC Branch 34 found that Guo and Chinese national Guo Hua Ping were the same person.

Senators Risa Hontiveros and Sherwin Gatchalian welcomed the verdict. Hontiveros said, “[I]t is a victory against corruption, human trafficking, cybercrime, and many other transnational crimes. Now they can’t do it again.”

She added that accountability is inevitable: “This makes me feel hopeful about the work we do. But it is far from over. And to all others who enabled Alice Guo’s criminal empire: the Philippines is not a playground for exploitation, infiltration, and espionage. Accountability is coming. Justice always finds a way.”

Gatchalian called the ruling “a big win” for individuals who suffered under criminal activities perpetrated by Pogo groups.