MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) cannot automatically disqualify former Bambam, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo if she decides to run, but they will take the slew of cases against her into consideration.
Comelec spokesperson John Laudiangco on Wednesday, October 2, said their power to cancel an aspirant’s certificate of candidacy (COC) is only to filter out nuisance candidates.
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"'Yung parte ng petition for disqualification, petition to cancel or deny due course 'yung COC, hindi po po pwedeng Comelec ang magfafile po niya. Wala po motu proprio powers,” Laudiangco said in an ambush interview on October 2.
(On the part of the petition for disqualification, petition to cancel or deny due course to the COC, the Comelec cannot file it. We do not have motu proprio powers.)
In law, motu proprio (Latin for "on his own impulse") refers to an official act taken without a formal request from another party.
However, Laudiangco encouraged the public to examine the candidates’ COCs and look beyond their qualifications, such as disqualification cases.
Laudiangco said they are waiting on the decision of the Ombudsman if Guo will be slapped with the final decision of perpetual disqualification.
While the Ombudsman has dismissed Guo as Bamban mayor, she could still appeal the decision.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra also previously said that none of the cases filed against Guo have reached finality. The Comelec would still be obligated to accept her COC if she files it.
When asked if they will take into consideration the cases filed against Guo, Laudiangco said yes.
“The preliminary investigation for her election offense charge is ongoing, the material misrepresentation,” Laudiangco said.
Comelec filed misrepresentation charges against Guo after the National Bureau of Investigation found that the former mayor shared the same fingerprints as Chinese National Guo Hua Ping.
Guo also faced money laundering, human trafficking and graft charges.