MANILA, Philippines – A fact-finding investigation by the Commission on Elections revealed a matching result on the fingerprint analysis of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo obtained from her voting records with that of Chinese national Guo Hua Ping sourced from the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Immigration.
This gave the Comelec basis to file a formal complaint against the mayor for allegedly committing material misrepresentation during the 2022 local and national elections echoing NBI’s initial findings presented to the Senate.
Also because of her dishonesty in previous hearings, the mayor could possibly face a perjury case for lying under oath.
“Ang recommendation ng aming fact-finding panel ay mag-file ng formal complaint laban kay Mayor Guo dahil sa misrepresentation sapagkat napatunayan ng aming mga eksperto na ‘yung anim na fingerprint, dalawa mula sa NBI at kasama po dun ‘yung alien certificate of registration ng isang Guo Hua Ping at ‘yung lima pa na fingerprints ng isang Alice Guo na kumuha ng NBI clearance,” Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia told reporters Thursday.
“At the same time, ‘yung nag-apply ng candidacy, nag-apply na botante sa Bamban, Tarlac, bumoto nung May 2022 elections at bumoto na Alice Guo sa BSKE noong 2023 ay iisang tao lamang,” he said.
Guo had earlier insisted that she is a Filipino, born to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother with a Filipino birth certificate making her then, a legitimate Filipino.
However various pieces of evidence surfaced shattering her claim.
“Therefore, dahil iisang tao, dahil Chinese si Guo Hua Ping, ang presumption may misrepresentation ‘yung Alice Guo na siya ay Pilipino. Ang sabi ng aming Law Department at panel, nangangahulugan na hindi siya Pilipino and therefore, dapat siyang kasuhan,” he said.
Motu proprio complaint
Garcia, along with other Comelec technical experts went to the Bamban municipal elections office last Tuesday to examine the mayor’s fingerprints logged in the computerized voters’ lists, application for voter’s registration, certificate of voter’s registration as well as her certificate of candidacy (COC).
“After thorough and extensive scientific examination conducted on the personalized signatures appearing on the voter registration records, Comelec biometrics records, and (Certificate of Candidacy) of Guo, Alice y Leal as compared to the NBI biometric print-out in the name of Guo, Alice y Leal signatures were found to be one and the same person,” the expert findings read.
According to Garcia, the submitted findings to the Comelec law department had “sufficient factual basis” to file a complaint against the mayor for her deliberate dishonesty about her identity when she ran for office in 2022.
The law department then secured a Comelec en banc approval to file a motu proprio complaint, or a complaint taken without the request from another party, to conduct a preliminary investigation meriting material misrepresentation, a criminal case in violation of Section 74 in relation to Section 262 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC).
Under the Omnibus Election Code, an individual’s certificate of candidacy may be revoked on grounds of material misrepresentation on age, residency, citizenship, literacy and registration. Violators may also face criminal charges, Garcia said.
If proven, anyone guilty of material misrepresentation is sentenced with 1-6 years of imprisonment, perpetual disqualification from office and no pardon unless permitted by the Comelec.
