A sleepy town in the Philippines has been thrust into the national spotlight after its mayor, was accused of being a Chinese agent. Bamban is a nondescript town in the country's rice-growing flood plains, north of the capital Manila, in Central Lozon, part of the province of Tarlac.
Little is known about her background, which is unusual in rural Philippines, where local officials are often affiliated with political dynasties. She is only in her first term as an elected official. The Commission on Elections said she registered to vote in Bamban in 2021, or one year before she ran and won as mayor.
Her family name, Guo, is also not among the common family names of Filipinos with Chinese lineage. Though colonized by Spain, the Philippines and China have deep cultural ties because of centuries of trade.
Under questioning by senators, Ms. Guo admitted that her birth certificate was registered with local authorities, only when she turned 19. She said this was because she was born in a house, not in a hospital or clinic. She could not give further details. Accordingly, Ms. Guo was home-schooled exclusively inside the family compound, where they also raised pigs. However, she could not remember the name of her home school organization and named only one of her teachers.
Authorities raided the Pogo facility last March and rescued close to 700 workers, including 202 Chinese nationals and 73 other foreigners, who were forced to pose as online lovers. Pogo stands for Philippine Offshore Gambling Operator whose clients include mainland Chinese people.
China’s secret spy.
For the first time ever, an undercover agent for China’s secret police steps out of the shadows to tell all about where he’s been and who he’s been targeting. As an agent for the Political Security Protection Bureau, or 1st Bureau - a secret unit of China’s Ministry of Public Security - he’d been involved in missions to surveil, abduct and silence targets around the world since 2008, including in Australia.
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