A Philippine court has sentenced a former mayor accused of having ties to Chinese criminal syndicates to life imprisonment after finding her guilty of human trafficking.

Alice Guo ran for mayor in Bamban, an agricultural town north of the capital Manila, as a Filipino citizen, but she was later identified by law enforcement as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping.

"This eagerly awaited ruling is not only a legal victory but also a moral one. It delivers justice to victims, reaffirms the government's united stance against organised crime," the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC) said on Thursday.

Guo's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Guo has previously denied links to criminals and has also maintained that she is a natural-born Philippine citizen.

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