It started with a raid on a Chinese-run online gambling center north of Manila where hundreds of foreigners and Filipinos were forced to run scams or risk torture.
Then came explosive allegations that the local mayor was involved in the illicit operation — and that she was a Chinese national masquerading as a Filipina.
The scandal stunned the nation and fueled calls for the government to ban the online gambling industry over its links to financial scams, kidnapping, prostitution, human trafficking, torture and murder.