SolGen challenges Alice Guo’s right to hold office
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of Solicitor General (OSG) is challenging suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo’s right to hold office, which could formally remove the embattled official from holding public office.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said the OSG filed a quo warranto petition before the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 34 on Monday.
A quo warranto case is a special civil action against a person who usurps, intrudes into or unlawfully holds or exercises a public office without lawful authority to act.
Rule 66 of the Rules of Court stipulates that the OSG shall initiate a petition for quo warranto in a court.
The petition referred to the suspended mayor as “Guo Hua Ping”, the name of a Chinese national who is said to be the real identity of the official.
In asking Guo's removal from public office, the OSG said that she is “unlawfully holding the position and illegally exercising the duties and responsibilities of the office of the mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.”
“Hence, her continuous discharge of the duties, powers, and responsibilities of the Office of Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac is tantamount to usurpation of such office,” the OSG's petition read.
The state lawyers also cited Guo's citizenship, which renders her ineligible to run for any elective public office. Her citizenship is also being questioned by the Senate.
The OSG also pointed out that Guo committed acts of “serious dishonesty” which can warrant for an official’s removal from office, citing the local government code.
Her supposed “dishonesty”, according to the OSG, arises from representing herself as “Alice Leal Guo” – a name allegedly different from the name she registered with the Bureau of Immigration upon her entry to the Philippines.
The state lawyers also described as “dishonesty” Guo's misrepresentation of her citizenship in public documents and her failure to provide truthful answers to the Senate pane that isl investigating her identity and alleged connections to the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators hub in her locality.
It can also be recalled that Guo and her family was cited in contempt and was asked to be arrested by the Senate due to their non-appearance in the Senate hearings.
One of the individuals mentioned in the arrest order, Nancy Gamo, Guo’s former accountant, was arrested a day after the Senate issued arrest order against them.
Meanwhile, aside from the quo warranto petition, the OSG also asked a Tarlac RTC to cancel the birth certificate of the suspended official, which could remove her “identity” as a Filipino citizen.
If proven not to be a Filipino citizen, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) previously said that Guo could be stateless.
Guo is also facing a non-bailable qualified trafficking complaint before the Department of Justice filed by the PAOCC and Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
If found guilty, Guo and others accused may face life imprisonment with a fine of not less than P2 million to P5 million.
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