Dismissed Bamban mayor is an ‘agent of influence,’ NICA says

THE NATIONAL Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) on Tuesday said it considers dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice L. Guo, who has been linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs), as an “agent of influence,” or someone who takes advantage of a position to serve an employer.

At a hearing investigating crimes linked to POGOs, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director General Francisco Ashley L. Acedillo said that his agency was still looking at whether the former town mayor is an intelligence agent, citing the need to determine agency and employer that may have employed her.

“What is applicable to Ms. Guo Hua Ping is that she uses her influence, her stature, or her position to influence public opinion or decision making to produce results beneficial to the country whose services they benefit from,” he said, referring to Ms. Guo’s alleged Chinese identity based on fingerprint evidence from the National Bureau of Investigation.

The dismissed mayor has been accused of coddling an illegal offshore gaming company in the town of Bamban, Tarlac where she ran and won for the first time as mayor in 2022. The illegal hub had been raided by Philippine law enforcers in March due to links to scamming operations.

Ms. Guo fled the country amid accusations that she had faked her Filipino identify and was actually Chinese. She has denied the accusations.

Mr. Acedillo said there is no Philippine law that concretely defines what an agent of influence is.

“Within historical context, given that these activities have been common especially during the Cold War, the activities and the facts that have come to light so far in this committee and other committees… point to the face that she is (an agent of influence),” he said.

Meanwhile, Solicitor General Menardo I. Guevarra told reporters in a Viber message that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has “endorsed” to his office a list of fake birth certificates of mostly Chinese and aliens for cancellation, citing overt 1,500 cases of fake birth certificates found.

“We have recommended to Congress the enactment of a law that would authorize administrative cancellation of such birth certificates in lieu of a tedious and expensive judicial process,” he said.

Based on 2020 data from the local statistics agency, about 3.7 million Filipinos did not have birth certificates due to high costs, lack of time, and unawareness of the need to register birth. 

Earlier this month, Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. issued an executive order formalizing his verbal order to shutter POGOs by the end of the year. It included provisions calling for a stop on POGO activities, blocking new applications for legal online casinos and putting a halt to license renewals. — John Victor D. Ordoñez