SolGen asks court to oust Guo from mayor's post

The Office of the Solicitor General is seeking the removal from office of suspended Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo on the grounds that she is a Chinese national and has misrepresented herself as a Filipino citizen “to advance her fraudulent schemes.”

- DAPHNE GALVEZ

The OSG on July 29 filed a quo warranto petition against Guo before the Manila regional trial court, asking it to declare Guo’s proclamation as Bamban mayor null and void and for her to be ousted from the post.

The OSG also asked the court to declare Guo as ineligible to hold the office of the mayor of Bamban and to declare her to have committed acts that warrant her forfeiture.

In its 45-page petition, the OSG argued that Guo, named in the petition as Guo Hua Ping a.k.a Alice Leal Guo, is not a true Filipino citizen and is thus ineligible to be voted for and elected as Bamban mayor.

“Her continuous discharge of the duties, powers and responsibilities of the Office of Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac is tantamount to usurpation of such office,” it said.

The OSG also cited various government records stating that Guo is Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, who is the daughter of two Chinese citizens, Lin Wenyi and Guo Jian Zhong.

Guo Hua Ping is the holder of a Chinese passport and was born on Aug. 31, 1990 in Fujian, China, the OSG added.

“There is no credible official record or document establishing that respondent Guo Hua Ping is a citizen of the Philippines, either by birth or by naturalization,” it said.

In early July, the OSG filed a petition before a Tarlac trial court seeking to cancel Guo’s birth certificate on the grounds of her failure to comply with the legal requirements of late birth registration.

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra yesterday said the hearing on the petition is set on Sept. 18.

A team from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is going to Tarlac today to check on the record of Mayor Guo. “We’ll proceed to Mabalacat and Bamban,” Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiango said, adding that the scheduled visit of Comelec officials to Tarlac was deferred for a few days because of the typhoon.