NPC expels Bamban mayor amid complaints

Suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo —Marianne Bermudez

MANILA, Philippines — The Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) has expelled Alice Guo, the suspended mayor of Bamban town in Tarlac province, from the political party due to complaints filed against her in connection with her alleged involvement in illegal offshore gaming operations in her town.

“I hereby order the removal of Mayor Alice Guo from the roster of members of the Nationalist People’s Coalition,” said NPC Chair and former Sen. Vicente Sotto III in a letter dated June 22.

“In view thereof, I will be directing our Secretary General, Mark Llandro Mendoza, to implement the said order and immediately inform Mayor Guo of her removal from the party,” Sotto added.

READ: Mayor Alice Guo, others face human trafficking complaint

Guo ran as an independent candidate in the 2022 elections but later joined the NPC after winning the mayoral race in Bamban.

Sotto’s letter was in response to the petition of Tarlac Gov. Susan Yap, NPC provincial chair, who recommended on June 17 Guo’s expulsion from the party amid the ongoing investigation against the controversial local chief executive.

“The NPC will not tolerate any unlawful acts or any appearance of impropriety by its members that will undermine the principle of our party,” Sotto said.

Sotto said he made the decision after consulting NPC leaders and members and “considering the gravity of charges and on-going investigations against Mayor Guo.”

The Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission filed on Friday a nonbailable qualified human trafficking charge against Guo, linking her to an alleged “grand conspiracy to commit labor trafficking” of around 500 foreign Philippine offshore gaming operator workers.

Last month, the Office of the Ombudsman suspended Guo and two others for up to six months after the Department of the Interior and Local Government filed graft charges against them.