MANILA: A fugitive former mayor in the Philippines accused of human trafficking and links to Chinese organized crime has been arrested in Indonesia, according to Philippine authorities who are seeking her extradition.
Alice Leal Guo, a former mayor of a town north of capital Manila, has been on the run since being linked to a Chinese-run online gambling center where hundreds of people were forced to run scams or risk torture.
Authorities accused the former Bamban mayor of involvement in the illicit operation — and of being a Chinese national masquerading as a Filipino in order to run for office.
Guo was arrested by Indonesian police in Jakarta late Tuesday, the Philippine Department of Justice said in a statement.
“Indonesia tagged Guo as an illegal alien since they know that she is a fugitive here in the Philippines, then there was also a misrepresentation of her nationality in her passport,” Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said on Wednesday, detailing the grounds for Guo’s arrest.
The Philippines has requested Guo’s extradition, and Manila’s Bureau of Immigration and National Bureau of Investigation are coordinating with Indonesian authorities to secure her return “in the soonest possible time,” NBI Director Jaime Santiago said.
Guo is also wanted by the Philippine Senate for refusing to attend hearings on her alleged ties to scam farm operations in Bamban.
She faces charges of graft, money laundering and human trafficking in relation to the scam farm raid in Bamban.
Philippine Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla hailed Guo’s arrest as “a testament to the tireless efforts of our law enforcement agencies and the strength of international cooperation in bringing fugitives to justice.”
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos thanked the Indonesian government for their assistance on the arrest.
“Let this serve as a warning to those who attempt to evade justice: Such is an exercise in futility. The arm of the law is long and it will reach you,” Marcos said on social media.

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, saying he had refused to appear before the panel to testify on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
In a letter about the subpoena, Chairman Michael McCaul said Blinken must appear before the committee on Sept. 19 or face contempt charges, the committee said.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken was not currently available to testify on the dates proposed by the committee, but has proposed “reasonable alternatives” to comply with McCaul’s request for a public hearing.
“It is disappointing that instead of continuing to engage with the Department in good faith, the Committee instead has issued yet another unnecessary subpoena,” Miller said in a statement.
He said Blinken had testified before Congress on Afghanistan more than 14 times, including four times before McCaul’s committee. He also said State has provided the committee with nearly 20,000 pages of department records, multiple high-level briefings and transcribed interviews.
McCaul asked Blinken in May to appear at a hearing in September on the committee’s report on its investigation of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In his letter to Blinken, the Republican committee chairman said current and former State Department officials confirmed that Blinken was “the final decisionmaker” on the withdrawal and evacuation.
“You are therefore in a position to inform the Committee’s consideration of potential legislation aimed at helping prevent the catastrophic mistakes of the withdrawal, including potential reforms to the Department’s legislative authorization,” McCaul wrote.
The subpoena from McCaul’s committee, which has been investigating the deadly and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan for years, comes as events surrounding the pullback become an increasingly politicized issue ahead of the Nov. 5 elections.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, visited Arlington National Cemetery late last month and took part in a wreath-laying ceremony honoring the 13 servicemembers killed during the US withdrawal.
He also visited Section 60 of the cemetery, where troops are buried and which is considered hallowed ground in the military.
Federal law and Pentagon policies do not allow political activities in that section of the cemetery, but videos were taken by Trump’s campaign and used in advertisements.
During a speech in Pennsylvania on Friday, Trump said families of service members who died in Afghanistan had asked him to go to the cemetery.