Senior Filipino officials have sparked outrage for posing for photos with a former smalltown mayor accused of spying for China, as they escorted her home from Indonesia.

Alice Guo is seen flashing a wide smile and the peace sign with the smiling interior minister and chief of the Philippine National Police. The photo was allegedly taken before they boarded a Manila-bound private jet in Jakarta late on Thursday.

Ms Guo’s story which has involved illegal scam centres, questions over her citizenship and a dubious account of her childhood, has gripped the Philippines for months.

She was arrested just outside Jakarta on Wednesday, after a weeks-long chase.

Authorities accuse Ms Guo of protecting scam centres and human trafficking syndicates that had used online casinos or Pogos (Philippine Online Gaming Operations) for cover while she was the mayor of Bamban.

Her case has exposed how online casinos with mainland Chinese clients have long been used as a front for organised crime.

Lawmakers have also accused Ms Guo of forging her Filipino citizenship and being a Chinese national, allowing her to run for public office and win on her first try, despite being a political novice.

Her case has gripped the public imagination at a time when Manila continues to spar with Beijing over reefs and outcrops in the South China Sea.

Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, who fetched Ms Guo from Jakarta, said he had the photo taken with her for “documentation”.

Mr Abalos said he was unaware that Ms Guo had posed with a wide smile and flashed the peace sign.

“She requested to speak with me and the [national police] chief because she had been receiving death threats. I told her she had nothing to fear because the police will protect her,” he said in a press conference in Manila.

“We wanted to document it so that everything is clear. I couldn’t see what she was doing because I was looking at the camera,” he said.

Ms Guo, who was in the same press conference, was asked about the photo. She said she had indeed told Mr Abalos and the PNP chief, Gen. Rommel Marbil, about the threats to her life.

“I asked for their help. I was also happy that I saw them. I feel safe,” Ms Guo said.

By that time, Ms Guo had changed into an orange police detainee shirt. At the airport in Jakarta, she was casually dressed in a white striped t-shirt and jeans. She was also not in handcuffs.

Another handout photo from the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation showed Ms Guo smiling with the authorities in the backseat of a vehicle.

The criticism on social media was swift.

“We want answers, NOT a photoshoot. Alice Guo, the fake Filipino, has a lot of explaining to do,” said Sen Risa Hontioveros, who is leading an inquiry in parliament on Ms Guo’s case.

“The Philippine justice system is a circus,” one X user said.

“Probably one of the most disturbing clips in the news right now. How can Alice Guo manage to still smile and wink like a movie star?” another X user said.

Another X user said the interior secretary and the police chief had posed for a photo with someone that is “symbolic of their own failure”.