Bamban, Tarlac City Mayor Alice Guo, Comelec chairman George Garcia during the resumption of the Senate probe into the Pogo hub in Tarlac in this file photo taken on May 22, 2024, in Pasay City. INQUIRER.net file photo / NOY MORCOSO
MANILA, Philippines — Suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo may face election offense charges from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) following revelations from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that her fingerprints match those of Chinese passport holder Guo Hua Ping, said poll body Chairman George Erwin Garcia.
“Kung may evidence po yes. Election offense for misrepresentation,” said Garcia in a Viber message when asked if the poll body can file a case against Guo regarding her Filipino citizenship claim in her certificate of candidacy in the 2022 polls.
(If there is evidence, yes, it’s an election offense for misrepresentation.)
READ: Mayor Alice Guo is also Chinese woman Guo Hua Ping, NBI confirms
However, Garcia said there is no timeline yet as to when the Comelec could file the case.
“We will wait for the senate investigation and the action of the solgen [Solicitor General]” he said.
Last Thursday, Senator Risa Hontiveros revealed that the NBI had confirmed the fingerprint match between Mayor Guo and Guo Hua Ping.
READ: Alice Guo’s removal as mayor via quo warranto may come sooner – OSG
“It means, they are the fingerprints of one and the same person. This confirms what I have suspected all along. Mayor Alice is a fake Filipino — or should I say, Guo Hua Ping. She is a Chinese national masquerading as [a] Filipino citizen to facilitate crimes being committed by [Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators],” Hontiveros said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said on Friday that Mayor Guo’s removal as Bamban town chief through a quo warranto case might happen sooner.
Guevarra emphasized that the matched fingerprint result “will be extremely useful” in filing the case against the suspended official.