Senators grill Guo over birth certificate

Senators on Wednesday said that there is a high possibility that Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo is not a Filipino contrary to her claims.

This after senators quizzed Guo about her personal, and professional life, during the more than four hours joint hearing of the Senate Committees on Women; Migrant Workers; and Public Order into her alleged link to the raided POGO hub in her town.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, who is spearheading the Senate investigation, presented a copy of Guo’s birth certificate from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Under Guo’s birth certificate, a certain Angelito Guo and Amelia Leal were registered as her biological parents, a claim confirmed by the local chief executive herself.

However, according to Hontiveros, there is a possibility that the two individuals do not even exist.

“And this is even worse. Angelito Guo and Amelia Leal don’t have any birth records at all. So, it really raises the question, isn’t it possible that Angelito Guo and Amelia Leal Guo don’t even exist?” she said.

“These two people, who according to the documentary evidence have three children, but according to you, Mayor, have only one child, apparently don’t even exist? So I can’t clarify this; your life story is becoming more unclear,” she added.

Guo, in an exclusive television interview, earlier claimed that she was a love child of her father with their helper, whom she said abandoned her after she was born.

Her PSA records, however, show that Guo’s biological parents were married on 14 October 1962.

More confusion

Guo also admitted that her biological parents have two other children, Shiela and Seimen, which caused more confusion for the senators as the date of the marriage of their parents was different from their birth certificates.

The date of marriage of Angelito and Amelia was on 14 October 1962, but Seimen’s records declared it was on 21 January 1967.

Likewise, Hontiveros quizzed Guo about the real nationality of her father, Angelito, whom she said is just using a Filipino name.

According to Guo, her father’s nationality is Chinese, who hails from Fujian, China.

“My father is a Chinese passport holder,” she quipped.

The claim, however, contradicted the declared nationality of her father on her birth certificate which is Filipino.

Hontiveros stressed that Guo’s birth certificate is “riddled with holes,” which casts more questions about her real identity and nationality.

“If your birth certificate is the basis of your citizenship, then your citizenship is also riddled with holes. If your father is Chinese, based on your own

self-declaration, under the 1973 Constitution, which was the Constitution in effect at the time of your birth in 1986, your mother needs to be Filipino for you to also be Filipino,” she said.

“But this Amelia Leal, whoever she is, whether she is a housemaid or your mother, is a person with no birth record. So, how can you derive citizenship from a woman whose very existence is questionable?” she added.

She continued: “How can we believe, Mayor, where your identity and citizenship come from if your documentation is so disorganized and some of it is even non-existent?”

Responding to the chairperson’s question, Guo said: “Your Honor, I grew up knowing that I am Filipino. In 2005, I received my birth certificate. I know that I am Filipino. I grew up knowing that I am Filipino.”

‘Go back to your country’

At some point during the hearing, Senator Loren Legarda lost her temper while inquiring about Guo’s childhood in Bamban.

“If you’re really Chinese and fronting for other people, go back to your country. But if you are Filipino and you were born here, convince us because we want to be convinced,” Legarda said.