The Philippine Senate has ordered the arrest of a small-town mayor after she refused to appear at hearings investigating her alleged ties with Chinese criminal syndicates, a case that has captivated the nation amid tensions between Manila and Beijing.
The arrest order, signed by the Senate president on Friday and to be carried out by the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms, came after Bamban Mayor Alice Guo (郭華萍) failed to appear for a second consecutive hearing on Wednesday, citing stress.
The Senate investigation began in May after authorities raided a casino in Guo’s sleepy farming town of Bamban in March, uncovering what the authorities said were scams being perpetrated from a facility built on land partially owned by the mayor.
Guo’s lawyer, Stephen David, yesterday said the mayor was incapable of attending the hearings because of her “physical and mental health condition” owing to “massive cyberbullying and humiliation.”
“Hopefully, when her condition will improve, we will see her again during hearings,” David said.
Philippine Senator Risa Hontiveros, who is leading the investigation, yesterday said the arrest order against Guo is the first step in making her “accountable to our laws.”
The Senate has also ordered the arrest of some members of Guo’s family for failing to appear at the hearings.
Guo’s case, which has shed light on criminal activity in the mostly Chinese-backed online casino industry in the Philippines, gained national attention after a senator questioned whether she was born in the Philippines, suggesting she could even be a Chinese “asset,” an accusation she denied.
The Chinese embassy in Manila did not respond to a request for comment on questions about Guo’s identity.
Guo has denied links to criminals and said she is a natural-born Philippine citizen. She has written to the Senate that she was the subject of “malicious accusations.”
Her legal team on Wednesday asked the Philippine Supreme Court to nullify the summons requesting her to appear at the hearings.
Guo’s case comes at a time of growing Philippine suspicion about China’s activities following an increasingly tense dispute over reefs and shoals in the busy waterway of the South China Sea, where both nations, as well as Taiwan and other countries, have claims.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
RSS