Guo asks Comelec to dismiss material misrepresentation rap

By Ferdinand Patinio, Philippine News Agency

FILE: Alice Guo testifies before the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality on Sept. 9, 2024. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA – The camp of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo on Thursday asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to dismiss the material misrepresentation complaint filed by the poll body’s law department.

In her counter-affidavit, Guo urged the poll body to junk the complaint stemming from the certificate of candidacy (COC) she filed in the May 2022 polls, for being premature and for relying on questionable evidence.

“When I filed my Certificate of Candidacy, I have made declarations on my personal information, such as my citizenship and domicile, on the basis of the legitimate documents in my possession, which documents were issued by the Philippine government and which remain valid and existing since the time I filed my COC and still as of this writing. Hence, I humbly but strongly submit that I have not made any false material representation,” she said.

She said the complainant failed to dispute her birth certificate, which states that she is a Filipino citizen. Guo’s citizenship is being questioned via the Office of the Solicitor General’s quo warranto petition.

“With due respect, unless otherwise declared to be invalid, said birth certificate is deemed valid and regular on its face. Thus, it is a conclusive proof of my identity as a Filipino,” the respondent said.

She also questioned the validity of the pieces of evidence presented to supposedly prove that she and a certain Hua Ping Lin Guo are “one and the same person”.

“This is an unwarranted and unmerited conclusion considering that there was no opportunity given to me to authenticate the said examination results, the procedure on how they came about the results, the source documents that were in the examination, as well as the produced documents,” Guo said.

She added that she was not given the chance to check, verify and validate “if there was no room for alteration and manipulation in the said examination and documentation”, stressing that such act violated her right to due process.

Comelec chairperson George Garcia said Guo’s act of filing her comment is a recognition of the poll body’s jurisdiction.

“We can terminate the preliminary investigation and proceed to the resolution of the controversy,” he said in a message to reporters.

Garcia said the poll body’s law department is expected to submit its recommendation to the Commission en banc next week.