‘Chinese spy mayor’ wanted by Philippines arrested

A former Philippine mayor who was on the run for weeks after being accused of spying for China has been arrested in Indonesia.

Philippine authorities have been pursuing Alice Guo across four countries since she disappeared in July following an investigation into her alleged criminal activities.

She has been accused of protecting online casinos, which were a front for scam centres and human trafficking syndicates in her sleepy pig farming town, Bamban.

Ms Guo denies the allegations. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said she would be flown back to the Philippines as early as Wednesday.

She said she grew up on the family farm with her Chinese father and Filipina mother, but MPs who investigated the scam centre operations said her fingerprints matched a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping and accused her of being a spy who provided cover for criminal gangs.

The dramatic nature of her case, which has since seen her sister arrested and questioned by the Philippine Senate, sparked fury in the country and drew international attention.

Ms Guo’s case has played out as the Philippines and China continue to spar over reefs and outcrops in the South China Sea.

China has not commented on the allegations against her.

Authorities believe that Ms Guo slipped past border checks in July and took several boats, crossing neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, on her way to Indonesia, where she was arrested on Tuesday on the western border of the capital Jakarta.

Mr Marcos said her arrest is “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,” he wrote on Facebook.

Photos showed Ms Guo wearing light pink pyjamas and a white coat when she was arrested.

From BBC