OSG seeks to nullify Guo's proclamation

(UPDATES) THE Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed before a Manila court on Monday a quo warranto petition seeking to nullify the proclamation of Alice Guo as mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.

A quo warranto is a form of legal action to determine if a person has the right to hold the public office that he or she occupies.

In the petition filed before the Manila Regional Trial Court, the OSG argued that Guo «is not a Filipino but a Chinese national» when she ran and won in the 2022 elections.

Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN

It said Guo, who was identified as Guo Hua Ping in the petition, holds a Chinese passport, being the daughter of Lin Wenyi and Guo Jian Zhong, both citizens of China.

The OSG said Philippine immigration records showed that Guo arrived in the Philippines in 1999 when she was 9 years old. In her testimony during a Senate inquiry, Guo said she was born in the country.

Because Guo is not a Filipino either by birth or naturalization, she is illegally holding the position of mayor «and must be ousted therefrom,» the OSG said.

Advertisement

The petition also cited the findings of the National Bureau of Investigation that the fingerprints of the Bamban mayor matched that in Guo Hua Ping's records.

The OSG noted that even international law enforcement authorities use fingerprint identification «given that no two individuals, not even identical twins, have the same fingerprints.»

Guo has been charged before the Department of Justice with being the co-owner of a property in Bamban that was leased to a Philippine offshore gaming operator that was found to be involved in human trafficking.

She was also suspended as mayor by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Advertisement