DOJ: Guo-officiated marriages valid

MANILA, Philippines — Marriages officiated by dismissed mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac will remain valid, according to an official of the Department of Justice.

DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty cited the doctrine of operative fact in saying that unions officiated by Guo when she was mayor remain valid.

Ty said that acts of public officials performed when they were in authority remain valid or in effect, even as this power is later declared invalid.

“The authority is separate from the effect,” Ty said.

According to the Supreme Court, the doctrine of operative fact recognizes the existence and validity of a legal provision prior to its being declared as unconstitutional.

The SC said the doctrine legitimizes invalid acts done pursuant thereto because of consideration of practicality and fairness.

Even if public officials lost their authority, the actions they performed when they were in power remain valid, especially if the acts were done in good faith, it said.

Guo was dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman for grave misconduct over her alleged involvement in a Philippine offshore gaming operator hub in Bamban.

She is facing a quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General, seeking her removal as mayor of Bamban on the ground that she is a Chinese national who misrepresented herself as a Filipino “to advance her fraudulent schemes.”