Alice Guo faces misrepresentation raps filed by Comelec

Former Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo at a Senate hearing on September 17, 2024. —File photo from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday filed material misrepresentation charges against dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.

The poll body lodged the charges before the Regional Trial Court in Tarlac, 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.

“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 said.

The Comelec learned that the fingerprints of Guo in her voting records matched the fingerprints of a Chinese woman named Guo Hua Ping at the National Bureau of Investigation.

READ: After Alice Guo mess, Comelec to publish COCs, Conas for the first time

Only Filipino citizens are allowed to run for public office.

Aside from election offenses, Guo is facing complaints for graft, qualified human trafficking, money laundering, and tax evasion and is likewise being investigated by Congress over her alleged links to Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo). 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 the former mayor herself retracted this bid.