Comelec studies filing of election offense case vs Alice Guo

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections is now studying the filing of an election offense case against suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo.

In an interview with reporters on Monday, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said that he has ordered the poll body's law department to study the pieces of evidence that will serve as the basis for the complaint against Guo.

Garcia said that the Comelec is waiting for the report that will come out of the Senate women committee's ongoing inquiry into the country's Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos), as well as the Office of the Solicitor General's plan to file a quo warranto petition against Guo.

The Comelec chief said that they can use the basis of the petition for quo warranto to assess if Guo committed misrepresentation in her certificate of candidacy when she ran for the position of Bamban mayor in the 2022 elections.

"If the violation was committed in 2022, it has not reached five years yet. Therefore, we still have jurisdiction in filing a case. If you evaded administrative liability, this does not mean you are spared from criminal liability," Garcia said in Filipino.

Guo has repeatedly claimed to have been born in Tarlac City, Tarlac, which is also the location she declared as her place of birth in her certificate of candidacy.

This is contrary to the findings by the National Bureau of Investigation last week that showed Guo's fingerprints matched that of a Chinese national named "Guo Hua Ping" who entered the Philippines at 13 years old. 

Sen. Risa Hontiveros earlier said the NBI's confirmation of the fingerprint match between Guo and Guo Hua Ping is the most serious evidence to date that can be used to remove Guo from her position.

The Philippine Statistics Authority has also recommended the cancellation of Guo's birth certificate, which was earlier found to be full of irregularities, such as incorrect information about her  parents' nationalities, based on the findings that surfaced from the Senate hearings.