Sotto-led NPC drops Mayor Alice Guo from party roster

MANILA, Philippines — The Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) has removed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo from its list of party members.

This came after the party granted the petition of Tarlac Gov. Susan Yap to remove the Bamban mayor from the party. 

In a letter granting Tan’s petition dated June 22, former Sen. Tito Sotto, who is the chairman of the NPC, said the party came up with the decision considering the “gravity of charges and ongoing investigations against Guo.”

“The NPC will not tolerate any unlawful acts or any appearance of impropriety by its members that will undermine the principle of our party,” Sotto’s letter read. 

“I hereby order the removal of Mayor Alice Guo from the roster of members of the Nationalist People's Coalition,” it added. 

According to Sotto, the party will be directing its secretary general, Mark Mendoza, to implement the order and immediately inform the Bamban mayor of her removal from the party. 

On Friday, the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) filed qualified trafficking charges before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Guo and 13 others over their alleged involvement in the operation of a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in Bamban, Tarlac that was raided in March.

Among the 13 include former Technology and Resource Center Deputy Director General Dennis Cunanan and other corporate officers of the Zun Yuan Technology Center.

In response, Guo denounced the allegations of the PNP-CIDG and the PAOCC, saying that she has no links with any POGO in the country.

“Having connections to companies or individuals, especially when vague, is not enough to link someone to a case, particularly one involving human trafficking,” she said in a statement.

On June 3, the Office of the Ombudsman also imposed a preventive suspension on the Bamban mayor following the graft charges filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on May 24 against Guo over her issuance of permits to another POGO linked to her.

Aside from the Ombudsman's preventive suspension and the charges filed before the DOJ, the Office of the Solicitor General previously said that it is looking into a quo warranto petition against Guo.