Senator bares papers suggesting Alice Guo was born in China

MANILA, Philippines — New documents obtained by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian indicate that suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo first entered the Philippines when she was already a teen, contrary to her claim and her birth certificate that she was born in Tarlac.

The documents Gatchalian sent to reporters came from the Board of Investments from the Guo family's application for Special Investors Resident Visa (SIRV) and the Bureau of Immigration.

Gatchalian said the embattled mayor "might be Guo Hua Ping, who entered the Philippines on Jan. 12, 2003 when she was 13 years old."

To recall, in May, social media users noted an article on World News, a Chinese-language newspaper based in Binondo, Manila, that said Guo is also known as "Guo Huaping, the daughter of Mr. Guo Jianjiang of Chaodai Village, Jinjing Town, Jinjiang City, Fujian Province." 

RELATED: Chinese language newspaper celebrating Alice Guo’s mayoral victory earns buzz

The senator said the documents show that Guo's real birth date is Aug. 31, 1990, and not July 12, 1986, as stated in her official birth certificate.

One document sent by Gatchalian is a photocopy of a passport with the name "GUO HAPING." The place of birth indicated in the passport is Fujian, China, with the date of birth being Aug. 31, 1990. 

In the document labelled SIRV, Guo Haping's nationality was stated as Chinese.

Gatchalian also pointed out that similar to the findings his office earlier gathered, Guo Huaping's registered mother is named "Lin Wenyi."

These allegations all add to the confusion that has surrounded the real identity of the Bamban mayor, who earlier on Tuesday called for a fair investigation into the accusations against her in a letter sent to Malacañang.

The letter, submitted by her legal representatives, states that Guo's name has been "dragged unfairly" after a series of Senate hearings that sought to clarify her links to the POGO hub recently raided in Bamban, Tarlac.

On Monday, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said it had gathered enough evidence to file a human trafficking case against Guo.

For Gatchalian, these new documents could strengthen the filing of a quo warranto case against the Bamban mayor.

In the letter sent by Guo's camp to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Guo asserted her innocence and denied all accusations against her related to human trafficking, kidnapping and money laundering.

Guo also said in the letter that her shortcomings are due to a "lack of knowledge" and not intentional wrongdoing.