‘Stolen’ identity? Senators not easing up on no-show Guo

TWO ‘GUOS’ Documents provided by the National Bureau of Investigation and presented in a Senate hearing on Wednesday contain the photo of suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo (left) and another “Alice Leal Guo.” Both have the same birth date and province as their place of birth. —Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday said it had initiated the legal process to revoke the “irregular” birth certificate of Alice Guo, as Sen. Risa Hontiveros raised suspicions that the suspended mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, illegally assumed the identity of another woman.

At the continuation of the Senate hearing on Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), Hontiveros said documents provided by the National Bureau of Investigation showed that the agency had separately issued clearances to two persons, both named “Alice Leal Guo.”

Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, said the NBI documents revealed that the two Guos shared the same birth date—July 12, 1986—and that they were both born in Tarlac province.

READ: More cases set to be filed against Alice Guo – PAOCC

One of the documents had a photo of Guo, while the other carried the picture of a person who looked completely different from the controversial mayor.

Hontiveros said she wanted to question the mayor further about her NBI clearance. Guo, however, had sent a letter informing the panel that she could not attend Wednesday’s hearing, saying her appearance at the previous two had made a “serious impact” on her “physical and mental health.”

The Philippine National Police filed on June 21 a complaint for qualified human trafficking against Guo over her alleged ties to a Pogo hub in Bamban that was raided by authorities on March 16.

No authority

Around 500 foreign workers were rescued in the operation. Aside from Guo, the PNP complaint named 13 other respondents. According to Hontiveros, she believed Guo’s real name is Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese national who acquired Filipino citizenship through fraud, as earlier alleged by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.

“It appears that the name ‘Alice Guo’ was stolen from a Filipino. Aside from the citizenship, the identity of a Filipino was also stolen,” Hontiveros said at the end of the four-hour proceedings.

“Guo Hua Ping is a Chinese citizen … who managed to fraudulently obtain the status of a Filipino citizen, run for mayor and gain the trust and friendship of very powerful and influential Filipinos, some of (whom) seem to include politicians,” she said.

Taking questions from Hontiveros, PSA National Statistician Marizza Grande said the agency had already asked the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to petition the court to cancel Guo’s certificate of live birth.

According to Grande, the PSA has no authority to void a birth certificate fraudulently obtained unilaterally.

She said the application for Guo’s late registration of birth was filed in 2005, or 19 years after her stated birth date.

Save for a “negative certification” issued by the National Statistics Office, the PSA’s precursor. The application did not contain the mandated supporting documents for the delayed registration of birth, she added.

Asked by Hontiveros if the process was regular, Grande agreed that it was “irregular.”

“The late (birth) registration (of Guo’s sister) was also irregular,” the PSA official said, referring to the mayor’s younger sibling, Shiela.

Different names for mom

At the same hearing, Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Director Emmett Rodion Manantan said Guo had declared “several variations” of her birth mother’s name in her bank accounts.

In some of the bank documents, Manantan said, Guo identified her mother as “Winnie Leal,” “Wenny Leal Lin,” “Weny Lin Leal,” “Winnie C. Leal” and “Amelia Lim Leal.”

The mayor earlier claimed in past hearings that her mother was her father’s housekeeper.

“In other words, when she opened her (bank) accounts, she voluntarily wrote that her mother’s maiden name is ‘Wenyi Lin,’ although she included ‘Leal,’ right? But we know that ‘Leal’ is just a product of imagination,” Gatchalian said.

The AMLC official answered in the affirmative.

Gatchalian said this would support his suspicion that Guo’s real birth mother was Lin Wenyi, a Chinese citizen who was listed as an incorporator of several registered companies of the mayor’s family.

As reflected in the records of the Bureau of Immigration, he said Lin and Guo’s Chinese father, Jian Zhong Guo, had frequently traveled to China together as a couple.

Facing deportation

Meanwhile, Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty, head of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, said Guo might face deportation should the court grant the petition that the OSG would soon file to have her birth certificate canceled.

“If the proceeding against her succeeds, she will be stripped of Philippine citizenship,” Ty said in response to Gatchalian’s question.

“However, as long as she is charged in court, she cannot be deported while the criminal cases against her are pending,” he added.