The rejected Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo’s final destination is “definitely” not China, Winston Casio, spokesman for the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), said on Saturday.

Casio cited China’s strict enforcement of illegal gambling laws in a news forum.

“She will definitely not go to China because she is already a person of interest to China as she is accused of a serious crime related to illegal gambling in the Philippines,” Casio said when asked about Guo’s final destination.

“(We) know how strict China is about gambling in their own territory. So, she would definitely not go to any of those areas,” he added.

Guo is likely to travel to the Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia.

“The Golden Triangle, those countries are very porous in terms of borders, as I imagined, and we know what the Golden Triangle means when we talk about transnational organized crime,” Casio said.

“It’s more about offshore gaming operations — gambling. The Golden Triangle is very open to gambling operations,” he added.

The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone is located in Bokeo Province, close to the borders between Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

The city has long been notorious for its wide range of criminal activities, including illegal drug production, online fraud, large-scale gambling and human trafficking.

“What is the feasible area where she would go? As far as the commission is concerned, as far as the PAOCC is concerned, we are convinced that she is trying to enter the Golden Triangle because the family, the Guo family, has business interests, gambling interests in Cambodia,” Casio said.

“So that would be the safest bet we have at this point.”

According to Casio, criminals from the Philippines will likely choose not to go to countries where extradition exists between that territory and the Philippines.

“I will not go to areas that are parties to the international… to the United Nations… UNTOC, so to speak, the United Nations Convention on Transnational Crime – I will never go to those places kasi madali po akong ibabalik (because I will be easily sent back there),” he noted.

Casio said the illegal activities of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga “involve a transnational criminal organization.”

“In fact, as you may know by now, the individuals who facilitated the escape of the Guo siblings — Katherine Cassandra Li Ong — to Batam are also two international criminals: Zhang Jie, a Singaporean citizen, and a Warren Wu, an individual of Chinese descent but now holding a Saint Kitts passport,” he further explained.

Casio noted that POGO operations in these areas are “large enough to serve the different areas” in Southeast Asia.

“So their interest is almost everywhere. If you go back to the biggest money laundering case in Singapore with Zhang Ruijin and Lin Baoying, two of Alice Leal Guo’s partners, they were released. Zhang was released in Cambodia — repatriated,” he quoted.

“Lin, on the other hand, was repatriated at her request, through her request to Japan. So, ganoon po kalawak iyong kanilang network. This is not a typical criminal organization,” he added.