Mayor Alice Guo Faced w/ OSG Questions on Eligibility to Hold Public Office
OSG – The Office of the Solicitor General filed a quo warranto petition against suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.
The authorities have yet to locate suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo. She was cited for contempt for ditching the Senate inquiries on POGOs thus, an arrest order against her was released by the upper chamber.
Mayor Guo is facing accusations of her alleged involvement in the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming operations in her town. Aside from it, she is also being questioned regarding the identity, specifically her nationality.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) previously confirmed that Mayor Guo’s fingerprints matched with the fingerprints of Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese national who entered the country in January 2003. The confirmation is amid inconsistencies in the testimonies of the Mayor regarding her personal background.
The Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms found negative presence of the Mayor in all her registered addresses. The authorities also visited her farm and garments factories but she was not there. The siblings of the Mayor who also have arrest orders were not located as well.
In a statement she released amid a pending arrest order from the Senate, Mayor Guo said that she is ready to face the accusations against her if there is an evidence but “at a proper forum”. She also told the senators that there are other critical issues in the country like poverty, national security, and food shortage.
Amid the questions about her identity, the Offce of the Solicitor General eyed to file a quo warranto petition against Mayor Guo. The quo warranto petition is a writ that challenges a person’s right to hold a public office.
Recently, the OSG has officially filed a quo warranto petition against Mayor Alice Guo. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the petition against the suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor was filed at a Manila court.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra stressed that “Guo is not a Filipino citizen, she is a Chinese national thus, she is ineligible to run for any electic public office”. Based on the report, the SolGen also said that the suspended Mayor has committed “acts of serious dishonesty” which can result to the forfeiture of her office.
Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, an election candidate must be a Filipino citizen. As of this writing, the camp of Mayor Alice Guo has yet to release a statement on the matter.