Philippine mayor accused of acting as Chinese asset amid investigation, tensions

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A Philippine mayor faces accusations of acting as a Chinese asset amid a growing territorial dispute between the two countries.

"No one knows her. We wonder where she came from. That's why we are investigating this, together with the Bureau of Immigration, because of the questions about her citizenship," Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos told reporters this week.

Alice Guo, the 35-year-old mayor of Bamban, has found herself in the middle of a potential scandal over her origins and allegiances. She claimed to have grown up on a pig farm and had raised no concerns prior to a strange discovery made in her town this month, the BBC reported.

Law enforcement discovered that an online casino by the name of Philippine Offshore Gambling Operator (Pogo) in Bamban actually served as a front for a "scam center," which had close to 700 workers — including over 200 Chinese nationals — who were posing as "online lovers."

CHINA'S MILITARY MONITORS ROUTE TAKEN BY FILIPINO ACTIVISTS SAILING TOWARD DISPUTED SHOAL

The raid on the site in March rescued all of those workers, who claimed they were forced to work for the owners. The center tried to con victims with a "pig butchering" scam, in which a scammer adopted a fake identity to gain trust and then offered a romantic relationship to