Deportation urged for Alice Guo over citizenship issue

MANILA, Philippines — Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo should be stripped of her position and immediately deported because she lied about being born Filipino when she was in fact a native Chinese citizen, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said, as the Senate will seek the help of the Chinese embassy to determine the mayor’s true identity.

In an interview over ANC on Thursday, Gatchalian said Guo lied about being pure Filipino because a Chinese passport under her supposed name Guo Hua Ping stated that she is a Fujian-born Chinese citizen.

“Yes (she should be deported). She’s not Filipino. If you’re not Filipino, you need a Philippine visa to stay in our country. But since her SIRV was cancelled in 2011, she no longer holds any visa to stay in the country,” Gatchalian said, referring to the Special Investor’s Resident Visa (SIRV).

“Her passport should be revoked as well because her birth certificate is fake. Her father supplied fake information; therefore, the basis to issue the passport has disappeared,” he said.

Gatchalian flagged Guo for using two different passports – one Philippine and the other Chinese – between 2008 and 2011.

“She was flying in and out of the Philippines using two passports,” the senator said.

The Senate committee investigating Guo’s links to illegal offshore gaming activity will coordinate with the Chinese embassy in Manila – through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) – to determine Guo’s mysterious identity, the senator said.

“I understand there are protocols we have to go through with the DFA. We cannot go straight to the Chinese embassy because of these protocols,” Gatchalian said.