Alice Guo may have lied about Filipino mother — senators

MANILA, Philippines — Two senators said it is possible that Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo's parents were both Chinese after all based on the investigation of one senator's team who found that Valenzuela City residents allegedly knew Guo's mother to be a certain Chinese national named "Lin Wen Yi."

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said in a Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday that contrary to the Bamban mayor's testimony that her mother was a Filipino housekeeper, a certain "Lin Wen Yi" was introduced as Guo's mother to the people of Valenzuela City, where the Guo family used to have a business.

"Wen Yi was introduced as [Guo's] mother to the locals there, where she rented a warehouse. Based on my personal assessment, this might be Alice Guo's biological mother. Based on my investigation," Gatchalian said in Filipino.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Thursday bared documents showing that a certain "Lin Wen Yi" lived in the same address as the Bamban mayor. 

Hontiveros cited documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission that showed Guo's co-incorporations in at least seven of her busiensses were the following: her siblings Shiela L. Guo and Siemen L. Guo, her father Jian Zhong Guo, and Lin Wen Yi.

The senator said that the identity of Guo's mother is "crucial" to the issue as it would prove that Guo had been lying under oath during Senate hearings. 

Hontiveros chairs the the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, which has been leading an inquiry into the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub raided in Tarlac due to complaints of human trafficking.

Guo was accused of having links to the POGO hub and has invited the ire of senators for her apparent inconsistent answers about her true identity. Among others, the Senate hearing has found irregularities in her birth certificate and the nationality listed for her father, who was labeled a Filipino despite being a Chinese national.

"If it turns out that her mother is Chinese and her father is also Chinese, it will prove that Mayor Alice is not Filipino. If this is true, the bigger question is: why did she need to pretend? Why the secrecy and lies?" Hontiveros said in Filipino.