MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Erwin Garcia, along with technical experts from the poll body, visited the municipal hall of Bamban, Tarlac, on Tuesday to examine the voting records of suspended Mayor Alice Guo.
They personally inspected Guo’s voter registration records, certificate of candidacy (COC) for the May 2022 elections, and the election day computerized voters list.
READ: Comelec probe of Alice Guo may be finished soon – poll body chief
The Comelec Election Records and Statistics Department, which conducted the record check, will submit its findings to the poll body’s Law Department on Wednesday to determine if the mayor’s fingerprints match those of Guo Hua Ping.
“Kapag magsinungaling sa content ng COC, ‘yan ay misrepresentation — isang kasong kriminal. Ang tanong, meron bang misrepresentation, meron bang pagsisinungaling?” said Garcia in an ambush interview.
(When lying about the content of the COC, that is misrepresentation — a criminal offense. The question is, was there any misrepresentation? Was there any lying?)
“Sabi ng expert, hanggang bukas masa-submit niya ang kanyang findings. At the same time, hopefully, ang Law Department makapagbigay naman ng initial recommendations sa atin hanggang Biyernes. Sapagka’t, again, nagkaroon ng bagyo kaya ‘di natapos ang investigation. Dahil diyan, humingi ng ilang araw ang Law Department para ma-complete ang investigation report,” Garcia said.
(The expert said he would submit his findings by tomorrow. At the same time, hopefully, the Law Department will be able to provide us with initial recommendations by Friday. Since there was a storm, the investigation was not completed. Therefore, the Law Department requested a few more days to complete the investigation report.)
READ: OSG files a case in court to remove Alice Guo as Bamban, Tarlac mayor
On Monday, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed a petition for quo warranto before the Manila Regional Trial Court to oust Guo from her position as mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.
The OSG, led by Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, told the court that Guo is “unlawfully holding the position and illegally exercising the duties and responsibilities of the Office of the Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.”
Guo is under investigation for her alleged connection with the raided Philippine offshore gaming operator in Bamban.
Questions about her citizenship were also raised during a Senate inquiry after Sen. Risa Hontiveros pointed out that her birth was registered only in 2013, or 17 years after she was supposedly born in 1986.