Comelec to ask Tarlac court to move Guo’s case to Metro Manila
Commission on Elections Chairperson George Erwoin Garcia (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA)
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will ask the Tarlac Regional Trial Court (RTC) to transfer the case of dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo to a Metro Manila court.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the poll body will file “early next week” a motion before the Tarlac court to transfer the venue of the case.
“The reasons we cite is the security concern of our lawyers who will be attending the hearings, including the witnesses who will be testifying during the hearings,” Garcia said at a press conference on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Comelec filed charges against Guo over alleged material misrepresentation after it was established that her fingerprints in the voting records and the fingerprints of a Chinese woman named Guo Hua Ping in the National Bureau of Investigation matched.
Only Filipino citizens are allowed to run for public office.
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 Section 262 of the Omnibus Election Code.
Guo has been detained in Pasay City Jail after her arrest in Indonesia early last month.
