Senator Joel Villanueva warned that Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) might sponsor candidates in the 2025 elections.
During the 15th hearing of the Senate Women's Committee, which focused on the relationship between the dismissed Mayor of Banban, Alice Guo, and online gaming companies, Villanueva stated, "Online gaming politics represents a new form of corruption, and candidates in the 2025 elections could be sponsored by online gaming companies."
Previously, Guo's camp confirmed that the dismissed mayor would seek re-election.
Villanueva said: "This would be a mockery of our laws, especially considering that the Ombudsman's office has found her permanently disqualified from holding any government position."
He also stated that the Senate would not accept such actions and urged the election commission to immediately revoke her candidacy certificate after Alice Guo submits it.
At the same hearing, a Chinese citizen named Wang Fugui, who claimed to be a close friend and former cellmate of the Chinese spy She Zhi Jiang, revealed that Alice Guo's participation in the 2022 mayoral race was arranged by a department in China.
Since the Senate Committee on Women's Issues exposed Alice Guo's relationship with the illegal offshore gaming company Zunyuan Technology, she has been under scrutiny.
Questions have also been raised about her citizenship, and she has been accused of being a Chinese spy, which she has firmly denied.
However, the National Bureau of Investigation had earlier confirmed that she and the Chinese citizen Guo Huaping are the same person.
