Only courts can disqualify Guo from running – lawyer

MANILA, Philippines — Only the courts can stop Alice Guo from running for reelection as Bamban, Tarlac mayor in next year’s elections, according to her lawyer.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec), however, said that although it would have no choice but to accept Guo’s certificate of candidacy (COC), she may eventually be disqualified unless she gets a court order stopping the implementation of the Ombudsman order in August perpetually barring her from holding public office.

READ: Comelec may disqualify Alice Guo from Bamban mayoral race – OSG

Guo’s counsel Stephen David said she would submit her COC for Bamban mayor on Oct. 8, the last day of the filing period for candidacies in the 2025 midterm elections.

According to David, his client has yet to be convicted while allegations that she is a Chinese citizen have yet to be proven in court.

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“Right now, there’s no court that says she is not a Filipino citizen,” he said in an interview on TeleRadyo on Saturday. “It would be difficult to disqualify her on a technicality. What if she is who people really want to vote for? Let’s give the people [of Bamban] a chance to show their support and love for her,” he said.

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Appealable

David noted that the Office of the Ombudsman order dismissing Guo from government service for grave misconduct could still be appealed.

But for Comelec Chair George Garcia, the order was immediately executory and the poll body would comply with it.

“If a person is perpetually disqualified from holding public office because of the decision of the Ombudsman, their COC will be canceled even if the person has made an appeal to the Court of Appeals (CA), unless the CA issues a TRO (temporary restraining order) against the person’s charges in the Ombudsman,” he said.

Garcia appealed to the public for understanding, saying it was part of the poll body’s “ministerial duty” to accept the COC to be filed by Guo or her representative.

“But they should not worry, because the Comelec could immediately disqualify candidates,” Garcia said.

Disqualification grounds

Among the possible grounds for disqualification are a declaration the person concerned is a nuisance candidate, a petition seeking to cancel one’s COC due to age and citizenship, and the Office of the Ombudsman’s decision to impose a ban perpetually disqualifying one from holding public office.

Garcia said the poll body would resolve all disqualification cases and come up with a list of disqualified and nuisance candidates before the end of the year. This, he added, would give enough time for the Comelec to include the names of official candidates in ballots, and for the public to know the candidates before the campaign period starts on Feb. 11 and March 28 for national and local posts, respectively.

Guo is currently detained at the Pasig City Jail after being charged with various criminal and administrative cases.

Fingerprints

The Comelec earlier filed a material representation case against her based on her declaration in her COC for the 2022 elections that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen.

The poll body’s technical experts had examined her fingerprints in Comelec documents, including her COC, certificate of voter registration, and the ballot she cast when she voted in the 2022 general elections.

According to their findings, Guo’s fingerprints were “identical” to those of Chinese national Guo Hua Ping in her 2006 alien fingerprint card, confirming that the two were the same person.

Should the court convict her of material misrepresentation, Guo may face up to six years in prison and be disqualified from holding public office.

The Department of Foreign Affairs also canceled her Philippine passport as her biometrics matched those of Chinese passport holder Guo Hua Ping in the files of the National Bureau of Investigation.

The Department of Justice is likewise pursuing tax evasion and money laundering charges against her.

Multiple cases

Guo also faces two counts of graft before the Valenzuela Regional Trial Court (RTC) and has been charged with qualified human trafficking before the Pasig RTC for her supposed links to a Pogo (Philippine offshore gaming operator) hub in her town that was raided for human trafficking.

Pending before the Manila RTC is a quo warranto case against her initiated by the Office of the Ombudsman.

The Office of the Solicitor General also filed a petition to cancel Guo’s birth certificate before the Tarlac RTC. Should it be granted, she would lose her Filipino citizenship, which is a requirement to run for public office.

On Saturday, two other senators warned Guo she could end up facing more cases should she again run for Bamban mayor.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros said Guo may be charged with perjury if she states in her COC that she is a Filipino despite findings to the contrary.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian agreed with Hontiveros, citing the fact that the Comelec had already filed a case for material representation against Guo for lying in her COC about her citizenship.

Sen. JV Ejercito on Sunday said the Senate should end its hearings on Guo to avoid deviating from the inquiry’s real goal.

“We might go against our true purpose which is to find the brains behind the crimes,” he said in an interview with radio station dzBB.

The Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality chaired by Hontiveros is set to resume its investigation on Oct. 8. —with a report from Tina G. Santos