Solicitor General asks court to oust Guo from mayor’s post

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Solicitor General is seeking the removal from office of suspended Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo on the grounds that she is a Chinese national and has misrepresented herself as a Filipino citizen “to advance her fraudulent schemes.”

The OSG on July 29 filed a quo warranto petition against Guo before the Manila regional trial court, asking it to declare Guo’s proclamation as Bamban mayor null and void and for her to be ousted from the post.

The OSG also asked the court to declare Guo as ineligible to hold the office of the mayor of Bamban and to declare her to have committed acts that warrant her forfeiture.

In its 45-page petition, the OSG argued that Guo, named in the petition as Guo Hua Ping a.k.a Alice Leal Guo, is not a true Filipino citizen and is thus ineligible to be voted for and elected as Bamban mayor.

“Her continuous discharge of the duties, powers and responsibilities of the Office of Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac is tantamount to usurpation of such office,” it said.

The OSG also cited various government records stating that Guo is Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, who is the daughter of two Chinese citizens, Lin Wenyi and Guo Jian Zhong.

Guo Hua Ping is the holder of a Chinese passport and was born on Aug. 31, 1990 in Fujian, China, the OSG added.

“There is no credible official record or document establishing that respondent Guo Hua Ping is a citizen of the Philippines, either by birth or by naturalization,” it said.

In early July, the OSG filed a petition before a Tarlac trial court seeking to cancel Guo’s birth certificate on the grounds of her failure to comply with the legal requirements of late birth registration.

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra yesterday said the hearing on the petition is set on Sept. 18.

A team from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is going to Tarlac today to check on the record of Mayor Guo. “We’ll proceed to Mabalacat and Bamban,” Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiango said, adding that the scheduled visit of Comelec officials to Tarlac was deferred for a few days because of the typhoon.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia previously said they would be going to the Comelec office in Tarlac to personally check the record of Guo there.

They would look into the signature and fingerprints Guo that was submitted to the Comelec when she registered as a voter and when she filed her certificate of candidacy.

Manhunt

National Bureau of Investigation director Jaime Santiago told The STAR on Monday that a manhunt to locate Guo is being conducted by NBI agents from Region 3 and by the intelligence unit from the NBI’s headquarters.

“We have an ongoing manhunt operation, our men are doing their best,” Santiago said in response to Senate Pro Tempore Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s plea to the NBI and the Philippine National Police to arrest Guo.

Estrada has given law enforcers two more weeks to arrest Guo, warning that their 2025 budgets could be affected if she is not apprehended.

The senator noted that the Senate issued an arrest order against Guo on July 11, but she remains at large. The NBI reported to the Senate that Guo was seen in Bulacan before her arrest order was issued.

During a Senate investigation into raided Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hubs, NBI assistant director Angelito Magno said that although there were sightings, the team found no trace of Guo at the locations.

The NBI Cybercrime Group is trying to locate Guo’s IP address after she posted statements on Facebook.

Col. Jun Mark Lagare from the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said a tracker team has been assigned to find Guo, but no updates have been provided to the Senate committee.

POGO workers

Having families in the Philippines does not exempt foreign workers employed at POGOs and internet gaming licenses (IGL) from leaving the country, the Bureau of Immigration said yesterday.

BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said these foreign workers cannot change the status of their stay in the country that would entitle them to extend their stay in the Philippines.

“This is the limitation of their stay here. Since (the operations of their companies) have been downgraded, they would have to leave the country. They could no longer extend further, they could no longer convert it to any other type of visa,” Sandoval said over Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.

At present, POGO and IGL workers are holders of working visas. “As of now, we do not have room for any adjustments in the procedure. They would have to leave the country,” she said.

In his third SONA on July 22, President Marcos ordered POGOs to be banned and gave them until the end of the year to wind down operations.

Probe will continue

The Senate investigation on POGOs could not be terminated yet unless those responsible for heinous torture operations are identified, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said on Monday during the continuation of the Senate hearing on the alleged scamming and human trafficking in the Clark POGOs.

“To be honest, I want to close this hearing but we can’t close this hearing when we haven’t fully determined who is responsible for these heinous operations that brought torture to our countrymen,” Hontiveros noted.

She said she received information that POGOs are leaving the country and moving to Cambodia after operating in the country for several years.

For Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Guo, who snubbed the Senate hearing for the third time, should be slapped with charges of disobedience to summons issued by Congress.

Apart from Guo, the Senate has also ordered the arrest of Siemen Guo, Wesley Guo, Sheila Guo, the suposed mother Wen Yi Lin and Dennis Cunanan after they failed to appear in the Senate investigation related to the illegal POGO in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac in Pampanga.

Nancy Gamo, the alleged accountant of Guo, was ordered released from Senate custody after she cooperated in yesterday’s resumption of the Senate investigation on illegal POGOs. She spent over two weeks in Senate custody after her arrest at her Caloocan home on July 13.

‘Mind your manners’

Former presidential spokesman Harry Roque was reminded to mind his manners during the Senate probe on his alleged links to illegal POGOs.

Roque attended the resumption of the Senate probe yesterday in a defiant mood, presenting documents to show that he did not lawyer for a raided POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga, Lucky South 99.

Roque maintained that he merely served as counsel for Whirlwind Corp., which owned the property where Lucky South 99 is located.

He talked over Hontiveros’ questioning as he reminded the Senate committee of its own rules about presenting allegations without evidence and witnesses.

Roque also accused Hontiveros of “insinuating” that he lawyered for illegal POGO and of interrupting him in his testimonies during the hearing.

“I am an invited resource person. I do not understand that whenever I am asked to answer, I will be asked to stop in my testimony. I thought we were engaged in the search for the truth?” Roque said.

This prompted Hontiveros and Gatchalian to remind him that he could be cited in contempt for being disrespectful in schooling senators about their jobs.

“Attorney, please stop using that offensive word ‘insinuating.’ I am a very plain speaker. You don’t need to tell the committee what the rules of the Senate are. It is not necessary,” Hontiveros said.

“Please be reminded to respect the chairperson,” Gatchalian said, to which Roque answered: “I am very respectful.”

“Is that respectful, that you are talking over the chairperson as she is speaking? One more, and I will cite you in contempt. Do not talk over the presiding chairperson,” Gatchalian said.

Roque apologized for his actions and was spared from being ordered to spend the night in Senate detention.

During the hearing, he also denied owning a house in Benguet where two foreign POGO employees were apprehended over the weekend. The two are suspected to be Chinese fugitives wanted for criminal activities in China.

But Roque said he owned some shares in a company linked to a firm that owns the house. He also admitted staying in the house in the past. — Mayen Jaymalin, Evelyn Macairan, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mark Ernest Villeza, Artemio Dumlao, Marc Jayson Cayabyab