Alice Guo during the inquiry on Philippine offshore gaming operators and the illegal drug trade at the House of Representatives in Quezon City on September 19, 2024. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo (real name: Guo Hua Ping) is set to have an arraignment for her election offense case on December 5.
In an order dated Nov. 29 but was only furnished to the media on Monday, Ronald Leo Haban, presiding judge of Capas, Tarlac Regional Trial Court Branch 66, set Guo’s arraignment at 8:30 a.m.
Guo may either plead guilty or not guilty to the material misrepresentation charge filed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the filing of charges pushed through as Comelec did not receive a motion for reconsideration on its resolution to file information against Guo for violation of Section 74 in relation to Section 262 of the Omnibus Election Code.
READ: After Alice Guo mess, Comelec to publish COCs, Conas for the first time
“She declared in her COC (certificate of candidacy) that she is a Filipino citizen and a resident of Bamban, Tarlac, when in truth and in fact, she is not,” the Comelec resolution dated Oct. 8 read.
The Comelec learned that Guo’s fingerprints in her voting records matched the fingerprints of a Chinese woman named Guo Hua Ping at the National Bureau of Investigation.
“We filed a case [against Alice Guo] in Bamban, Tarlac for having six duplicate fingerprints…One [of the fingerprints] is Chinese while the other five is from her,” Garcia said in a press conference during the certificate of candidacy filing for Bangsamoro parliamentary elections on Nov. 4.
READ: Alice Guo’s among 1 million duplicate fingerprints found by Comelec
Only Filipino citizens are allowed to run for public office in the Philippines.
Aside from election offenses, Guo is facing complaints for graft, qualified human trafficking, money laundering, and tax evasion. She is also being investigated by Congress over her alleged links to Philippine offshore gaming operators. She is currently detained in Pasig City jail.
Guo’s counsel previously announced that the dismissed mayor intends to run for reelection even amid these charges, but Guo retracted her bid.