Comelec files poll offense case vs. Guo before Tarlac court

UNCOOPERATIVE. Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo attends the probe on illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators at the Senate in Pasay City on Monday (Sept. 9, 2024). She was cited in contempt for continuously refusing to answer most of the questions from the panel. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

By Ferdinand Patinio, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday formally charged dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo before the Capas, Tarlac Regional Trial Court (RTC) for allegedly committing material misrepresentation when she filed her Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for the May 2022 polls.

In a criminal information filed by its law department, the poll body accused Guo of violating Section 74 of the Omnibus Election Code.

“The accused Alice Leal Guo/Hua Ping Lin Guo, did then and there, willfully and unlawfully, commit material misrepresentation by filing her Certificate of Candidacy for the position of Mayor of the Municipality of Bamban, Province of Tarlac, and declaring under oath that she is eligible for the position she seeks to be elected, when in truth and in fact, she is a Chinese citizen and a resident of Fujian, China,” it said.

The filling of an election offense case stemmed from the recommendation of the poll body’s law department, noting that the former mayor committed material misrepresentation in her COC that she erred in declaring herself as being a Filipino citizen despite being of Chinese descent.

“It is clear from the evidence presented by Complainant that there is sufficient ground to believe that Respondent committed material misrepresentation in violation of Section 74 of the OEC in relation with Section 262 of the same Code, when she declared in her COC that she is a Filipino citizen and is a resident of Bamban, Tarlac, when in truth and in fact, she is not,” the poll body said.

The recommendation also pointed out how a comparison between Guo’s declaration in her COC and the National Bureau of Investigation’s Alien Fingerprint Card under the name of Hua Ping Lin Guo would prove that she deliberately made false representations pertaining to her qualifications for elective office, specifically her lack of citizenship and her failure to meet the residency requirement.

In her COC, the then mayoral candidate declared her name as Alice Leal Guo; citizenship as Filipino; birthplace in Tarlac, Tarlac; birthday on July 12, 1986; and has been residing in the Philippines for 35 years and two months and of Bamban, Tarlac for 18 years and two months on day before the Election Day.

On the other hand, the NBI Alien Fingerprint Card showed her name as Hua Ping Lin Guo; citizenship as Chinese; birthplace in Fuiian, China; birthday on Aug. 31, 1990; and is a resident of Fujian, China as of March 2006.

An election offense case carries the penalty of one to six years imprisonment, disqualification to hold public office, and removal of the right to vote.