What are the chances that another ineligible or unqualified person gets past Comelec again?
MANILA, Philippines – After Alice Guo’s connections to illegal activities and criminal personalities have been revealed, there is one basic question that Filipinos always go back to: How in the world did she become a mayor in the first place?
As it turned out, in all the decades that she, a Chinese national, had lived in the Philippines assuming somebody else’s identity, Guo only registered as a voter in April 2021, half a year before the filing of candidacies for the 2022 elections. Elected in May 2022, her ineligibility was exposed only two years after she had exercised powers as mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.
Why was she not caught when she filed her certificate of candidacy (COC)? Why was her name included in the ballot? Why was she proclaimed winner? Why is the poll body suing her for misrepresentation only now?
And the more important question, now that aspirants for elective positions are filing their COCs from October 1 to 8, 2024, for the 2025 polls: What are the chances that another ineligible or unqualified person gets past Comelec again?
We answer these questions on Ask Your Comelec, Rappler’s special series for the 2025 elections, where we sit with election officials to talk about legal issues, ask hard questions, and explain new guidelines and processes.
Catch the first episode with Rappler managing editor Miriam Grace Go and Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia on Friday, September 27, at 6 pm. – Rappler.com
