OSG eyes filing quo warranto case vs Alice Guo before end-July

Alice Guo —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) aims to file a quo warranto case against suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo before the end of July, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said on Tuesday.

A quo warranto is a special civil action used to determine if an individual has the right to hold public office.

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In a press conference after the signing of a memorandum of agreement with the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Guevarra said the OSG should have filed the case earlier, but the continuous emergence of new evidence against Gua has caused delays.

“Actually, we should have filed the petition for quo warranto earlier. However, the evidence keeps on turning up, further strengthening what we already have, so we are just incorporating the evidence that turned up during the Senate inquiry,” he said in Filipino.

“But we’re consolidating everything, and we’re hoping to file the petition for quo warranto before the end of this month,” he added.

Meanwhile, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the poll body would take steps to provide more evidence that the OSG could use.

“I am sure that our findings will contribute to the quo warranto petition that will be filed,” he said in Filipino.

“There are fingerprints in the EDCVL (Election Day Computerized Voters’ List). Her signature, fingerprints, and picture are there, and we can see those. Those will surely help the Solicitor General with whatever findings the Comelec has on the matter,” he added.

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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.

Guo has denied the allegations, including the possibility that she could be a Chinese asset.