OSG Requests Manila Court to Remove Alice Guo as Bamban Mayor

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has filed a quo warranto petition against Alice Guo, the suspended mayor of Bamban, Tarlac. This legal action, initiated on Monday, could lead to her removal from office.

In a detailed 45-page petition, the OSG urged the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 34 to nullify Guo’s proclamation as mayor of Bamban and to formally declare her ineligible for the position.

Additionally, the court was asked to confirm that Guo had engaged in actions that justify her forfeiture from office. Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra shared the first page of the petition with reporters, stating, “This morning, we filed the petition.”

The petition names “Guo Hua Ping a.k.a. Alice Leal Guo” as the respondent.

According to Guevarra, “Guo Hua Ping, also known as Alice Leal Guo, is unlawfully holding and performing the duties of the mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.” He further argued that Guo is a Chinese national and therefore ineligible to run for office.

The OSG presented various government records to substantiate their claim that Guo is the daughter of Chinese citizens Lin Wenyi and Guo Jian Zhong.

The OSG also highlighted that Guo’s case does not involve naturalization proceedings and accused her of committing acts that warrant the forfeiture of her office. They specifically cited “serious dishonesty,” which under the local government code, is grounds for removal from office.

The petition refers to Section 1(b), Rule 66 of the Rules of Court, in connection with Section 60 of Republic Act 7160, to argue that serious dishonesty justifies forfeiture from public office. The OSG also noted that Guo’s repeated misrepresentations in official documents demonstrate “moral depravity.”

The office pointed out that Guo had repeatedly claimed Filipino citizenship and misrepresented her parents’ true identities in various records.

“These misrepresentations cannot be dismissed as mere lapses of memory,” the OSG stated.

GMA News Online has reached out to Guo’s camp for comments but has yet to receive a response at the time of posting.

In June, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confirmed that Guo and the Chinese passport holder Guo Hua Ping have the same fingerprints.

Earlier in July, the OSG filed a petition to cancel Guo’s birth certificate. Guevarra mentioned that if the birth certificate is canceled, it would remove Guo’s primary evidence of her identity.

He also stated that the petitions to cancel Guo’s birth certificate and the quo warranto petition would complement each other.

Guo has denied all allegations against her.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian first raised suspicions that Alice Guo and Guo Hua Ping are the same person, based on documents from the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Bureau of Immigration.

Gatchalian presented BOI records showing the Guo family’s application for a Special Investors Resident Visa (SIRV). These documents revealed that a Guo Hua Ping entered the Philippines on January 12, 2003.

“Alice Guo might be Guo Hua Ping, who entered the Philippines on January 12, 2003, when she was 13 years old. Her real birth date is August 31, 1990,” Gatchalian said.

These documents surfaced after Guo failed to provide details about her childhood and background to the Senate, leading to scrutiny of her birth certificate, which was registered late.

Aside from her identity, Guo is also being investigated in connection with a raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in her area last March.

After repeatedly failing to attend the inquiry, the Senate committee issued an arrest order against her and others involved.

Guo, along with 13 others, is facing a human trafficking complaint before the Department of Justice related to the raided hub, where over 800 Filipinos and foreigners were rescued.