Undermining democracy: How Alice Guo continues to exploit the system

I would not be surprised if dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo proceeds with her plan to file her certificate of candidacy today, despite clear warnings that she will be disqualified and that the government will pull out all the stops to prevent her from putting her name on the ballot.

Alice Guo, a.k.a. Guo Hua Ping, has time and again demonstrated her gaslighting ways --from lying at the Senate without batting an eyelash, to evading a Senate warrant of arrest by surreptitiously exiting the country, only to be cornered later in Indonesia.

This tactic is a classic example of manipulation techniques, which political science professor Dr. Tom Ginsburg describes in his 2019 scholarly work “Democratic Backsliding and the Rule of Law” as controlling the narrative and distorting legal processes. In Guo's case, it also aims to confuse the public about her true identity and qualifications to hold office.

The Commission on Elections will accept Guo’s certificate of candidacy as a ministerial act, but Comelec Chair George Garcia clarified that whether Guo’s name will appear on the ballot is an entirely separate issue. Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra stated on Sunday that Comelec may disqualify Guo from the 2025 elections for misrepresentation, unless she secures a restraining order from the court.

Guo’s strategy is typical, shifting the narrative from legal accountability (she’s disqualified) to populist legitimacy. Despite facing a quo warranto petition, money laundering charges, and questions about her birth certificate, she deflects by asserting, “Let the people of Bamban, Tarlac decide my fitness for office.”

A lack of understanding of how democracy works vis-à-vis the rule of law often leads to the incremental erosion of our democratic system itself. A stable democracy balances majority rule with constitutional safeguards. On the opposite end is a system that masquerades as a democracy, driven by populism and charismatic posturing, exploiting the passing temperaments of the people.

We have seen such abuses in politicians who take incremental steps to undermine democratic principles without appearing to do so. How? By using legal mechanisms. For example, a disqualified candidate might leverage legal delays and technicalities to erode the public’s trust in the integrity of democratic processes, keeping the illusion of a functioning democracy alive while undermining its substance. Democratic institutions --like the Comelec, courts, and the Ombudsman-- are supposed to safeguard democracy and maintain the rule of law, regardless of popular sentiment.

Thus, it is up to the Comelec, the solicitor general, and the Department of Justice to use the full arsenal of the law to overcome the loopholes that Guo might exploit to evade disqualification and accountability. Congress should also strengthen our electoral and judicial systems to address legal loopholes, delays, and procedural issues exploited by politicians like Guo.

For Filipino politicians, there may be a certain level of tolerance for those attempting to evade accountability by securing a fresh mandate from their constituents, as long as they technically remain within the bounds of the law. But in the case of Alice Guo, where there is overwhelming proof pointing to her Chinese citizenship and instances where she has taken various steps to evade accountability, it would be an outright insult and mockery to see her campaign posters on the trail and her name on the Philippine ballot.

The fact that Guo has previously evaded Philippine authorities and now seeks to continue this pattern of undermining our legal institutions through her candidacy is classic Alice Guo, a.k.a. Go Hua Ping.