Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged Guo last week to disclose how gambling businesses targeting customers in China, known as Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), had branched into crime. “I move to cite Guo Hua Ping, also known as Alice Guo, in contempt of the Senate for testifying falsely and evasively before this committee,” said Senate committee head Risa Hontiveros, whose motion was quickly passed. MANILA, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Former Philippine town mayor Alice Guo was held in contempt for a second time on Monday after refusing to answer senators’ questions on suspected ties to Chinese criminal syndicates and how she escaped the country two months ago.

She faces graft charges at a Philippine trial court and a money laundering complaint at the Department of Justice. Bamban mayor since 2022, Guo was removed from office by the Ombudsman last month for grave misconduct. Her father Thaksin is widely seen as a major force behind her government and in a dinner speech last month backed the casino plan, noting the potential benefits from regulating and taxing online gambling and formalising the larger underground economy.

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Martin Petty) Paetongtarn’s ruling Pheu Thai Party has argued Thailand has fallen behind its neighbours in the gaming industry. The conclusion of a public hearing conducted online over a bill to establish a “mega entertainment complex” housing a casino showed 80% of participants agreed with the plan, Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat said. In Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Singapore, Myanmar and the Philippines have legalised casinos, some of which are located on the other side of Thailand’s borders, catering overwhelmingly to Thai and Chinese customers, many on weekend junkets.

Senators took turns to grill Guo on Monday, becoming irked and accusing her of lying that she is Filipino despite evidence obtained by the National Bureau of Investigation showing her fingerprints match Chinese national Guo Hua Ping. Senators first held Guo in contempt in July and ordered her arrest for failing to appear at a hearing. Law enforcers later found out she left the Philippines in July, going to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. One of its first advocates was influential billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whose youngest daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sworn in as prime minister last month.

If you have any kind of concerns pertaining to where and how you can make use of สล็อตออนไลน์, you could call us at our web-site. Several Thai governments have pushed to legalise gambling before to try to boost jobs and state revenues and draw more foreign tourists, but each attempt met pushback from conservatives in the Buddhist majority country. Her ally and predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, was the main proponent of the latest casino push but was removed from office by a court decision last month. BANGKOK, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Thailand’s new government will move ahead with plans to introduce casinos after a public hearing showed strong support to create a big entertainment complex offering gambling, a senior official said on Thursday.

Guo became mayor of Bamban town in Tarlac province in the northern Philippines in 2022. She ran as a Filipino citizen but her fingerprints were later found to match those of a Chinese national, Guo Hua Ping, the National Bureau of Investigation said in August.