The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) confirmed during a Senate hearing that former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping, is considered an “agent of influence.”
The Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality probed allegations of Guo’s possible role as a spy for a foreign government.
NICA Deputy Director General Francisco Ashley Acedillo clarified that while Guo cannot yet be definitively identified as a spy, there is a need for legislation addressing foreign influence and interference.
Acedillo highlighted efforts to amend the Philippines’ espionage laws to provide clarity and accuracy in defining individuals as spies.
Despite the absence of specific laws on agents of influence, Acedillo explained that Guo’s use of her position for the benefit of a foreign country fits the description.
Senator Risa Hontiveros earlier raised suspicions of Guo serving as a Chinese spy.
In an October documentary by Al Jazeera, self-confessed Chinese spy She Zhijiang alleged that Guo was an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security and had once sought campaign funds from him.