Comelec panel recommends misrepresentation case vs Guo

Bamban, Tarlac City Mayor Alice Guo. Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net file photo

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair George Erwin Garcia said on Thursday that the poll body’s fact-finding panel looking into suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo’s voting, registration, and candidacy records has recommended the filing of an election offense of misrepresentation against her.

In an interview with reporters, Garcia said the panel confirmed that the fingerprints on Guo’s records with Comelec matched those obtained by the National Bureau of Investigation from a Chinese national named Guo Huaping.

READ: Comelec law dep’t recommends raps vs Alice Guo for misrepresentation

The fact-finding panel members went to the Bamban municipal election office on Tuesday and examined Guo’s fingerprints in the computerized voters’ lists, application for voter’s registration, certificate of voter’s registration and certificate of candidacy (COC).

Moto propio complaint

They submitted their findings to the Comelec law department, which Garcia said found “sufficient factual basis” to file a formal complaint against Guo for lying about her being a Filipino when she ran for Bamban mayor in 2022.

The law department then sought approval from the Comelec en banc to file a moto propio complaint and conduct a preliminary investigation for material misrepresentation in violation of Section 74 in relation to Section 262 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC).

Garcia said that he and other commissioners would decide on the law department’s request early next week.

He added that Guo would be allowed to reply to the complaint during the preliminary investigation.

Section 74 of the OEC lists the pieces of information that eligible candidates need to provide in their COCs, such as their real name, address, citizenship, civil status, date of birth and political party. Under Section 262, violating Section 74 is considered an election offense, punishable by up to six years in jail, disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of the right of suffrage.

If there is probable cause to prosecute Guo for the election offense, the Comelec will file the case before the regional trial court in Tarlac, Garcia said.

A separate case of perjury against Guo may also be pursued since her 2022 COC, where she claimed to be a Filipino citizen, was made under oath, he added.