Comelec chief wants fact-finding panel to probe Alice Guo’s 2022 candidacy
MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) chief George Garcia has ordered the creation of a fact-finding committee to investigate the candidacy of suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo in the 2022 national and local elections.
“In view of public interest in the controversy surrounding Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, you are directed to create a Fact-finding Committee to investigate her candidacy for the 2022 National and Local Elections,” Garcia told the Comelec law department in a letter dated July 6.
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According to Garcia, the committee is tasked to determine if there was material misrepresentation in Guo’s candidacy, which could warrant filing an election offense case.
The committee was also tasked to coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Solicitor General, and the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality for relevant information.
“You may likewise direct the conduct of technical analysis of documents containing fingerprints of registered voters which bear the name Alice Guo, to determine her culpability, if any, and recommend to the Commission En Banc the filing of a case if evidence warrants,” Garcia further directed.
Guo is currently being investigated over her alleged links to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.
She was also found to have falsified her identity after the National Bureau of Investigation confirmed that her fingerprints matched those of Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese woman believed to be her true identity who arrived in the country in 2003.
The revelation did not match Guo’s initial claims, including being born on a farm in Tarlac.
The Office of the Ombudsman suspended Guo for up to six months after the Department of the Interior and Local Government filed graft charges against her.
She is also facing a non-bailable qualified human trafficking charge, which the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission filed.
The Office of the Solicitor General is also investigating whether quo warranto proceedings can be filed against Guo.