• Alice Guo, former mayor of Bamban, receives life sentence for human trafficking.
• Guo operated a scam centre that exploited hundreds of victims.
• Philippines intensified crackdown on online gambling and trafficking due to Guo's case.
• Independent investigations revealed links to Chinese criminal syndicates.
• Over 700 individuals from various countries were rescued from the operation.

Alice Guo, a former mayor of Bamban in the Philippines, has been sentenced to life in prison for her role in human trafficking, along with seven other co-defendants. The court found Guo guilty of overseeing a scam centre where victims, including Filipinos and foreigners, were forced to run fraudulent online operations, often facing severe punishment if quotas were not met. This decision marks a significant step in the Philippine government’s efforts to combat organized crime and human trafficking, particularly as these issues have become increasingly prevalent in Southeast Asia, according to SCMP and Reuters.

The scandal has captivated the Philippine public due to Guo's alleged ties to Chinese criminal syndicates and her surprising rise to political office. Authorities revealed that she posed as a Filipina to run for mayor, which raised further questions about her citizenship status. Subsequent investigations unearthed a sprawling operation under her purview, with hundreds reportedly subjected to coercion and exploitation, as highlighted by findings from the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC) and testimony from survivors BBC and Channel News Asia.