Is Alice Guo, current mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, a Chinese spy? Not likely. Is she a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO) operator? More than likely she is.
The Chinese have been coming to the Philippines even before the Spanish arrived on our shores. This is why we have the oldest Chinatown in the world. The same is true for other countries where they migrated to escape poverty and oppression in China during the time of the dynasties and the subsequent war between the Kuomintang and the communists.
It’s easy to obtain Filipino citizenship because of the corruption in the Bureau of Immigration and other government agencies. It’s not surprising that Guo was able to win as Mayor of Bamban. The Chinese have strong familial traditions so it’s safe to say that their loyalty is always to their origin. This is why several Chinoys have large investments in China even before it became an economic powerhouse. This is why the reaction is, hindi namin siya kilala, even if pictures which prove otherwise had surfaced. The spin now is to link Guo and the POGOs to the previous administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
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Casino junket operators have been in the country even before Duterte was elected president. All the authorities have to do is ask Kim Wong who is primus inter pares in the dark side of Chinese casino junket operators and POGOs in the country. His development of Island Cove, which he bought from the Remullas, sticks out like a middle finger to the ensaymadas trying to pin POGO operations on the Dutertes. It was actually that administration which charged license fees and forced the POGOs to pay taxes in the country to raise government revenues. Their continuing operations means that there are higher ups who protect the POGOs.
In Cambodia, the POGOs have been eliminated because the Cambodian government complied with the request of the Chinese government. The latter is now helping Cambodian authorities to repurpose the POGO structures in Sihanoukville. In the Philippines, money talks and bullshit walks. Last but not the least, just go to Divisoria and the Chinese malls there. There are Alice Guo’s aplenty. The influx began during the Arroyo administration.
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