Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said his office filed before a trial court yesterday, 5 July, a petition to cancel the birth certificate of suspended Mayor Alice L. Guo of Bamban, Tarlac.

The filing of the petition “will lay the groundwork for the subsequent filing of a quo warranto petition” against Guo.

A quo warranto petition is a special civil action against a person who usurps, intrudes into, or unlawfully holds or exercises a public office without lawful authority to do so.

If the quo warranto plea is granted, Mayor Guo would automatically be unseated and may be subjected to other charges.

“Today, the OSG will file a petition for the cancellation of the certificate of live birth of Alice Leal Guo on the ground, among others, of failure to comply with the legal requirements for late registration,” Guevarra said yesterday.

For security reasons, Guevarra did not disclose in which court the cancellation plea was filed.

Earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recommended the cancellation of Guo’s birth certificate, saying it found the late filing of the birth certificates of both Guo and her supposed sibling Shiela Lea Guo “highly irregular.”

Insufficient evidence?

Meanwhile, Guo’s camp shrugged off the evidence against her as insufficient during a hearing at the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Friday.

Lawyer Alex Avisado, Guo’s counsel, ridiculed the evidence, saying electric bills and articles of incorporation could not support charges of qualified trafficking.

“Their evidence includes electric bills, letters of authorization, and articles of incorporation. These documents are not enough to convict her,” he said.

Avisado said human trafficking involves the transport or transfer of individuals with malicious intent, such as for prostitution or slavery.

“There is no evidence linking Mayor Guo to human trafficking,” he added.

DoJ probe

The DoJ will resume its preliminary investigation into the complaint against Guo on 22 July, where the respondents are expected to file their counter-affidavits.

The complaint was filed by the Philippine National Police–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) linking Guo to the alleged illegal activities of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in her town.

Aside from Guo, former Technology and Resource Center deputy director general Dennis Cunanan, a Chinese national named Huang Zhiyang, and several others implicated in the operation of the POGO hub in Bamban face similar charges before the DoJ.

Judiciary, POGO link probed

In a related development, the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) has submitted its preliminary report, which is currently under review by the Supreme Court en banc, on the possible connection of judiciary officials and employees to illegal POGO hubs.

Supreme Court spokesperson Atty. Camille Ting said they were open to coordinating with Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on an investigation into the possible collusion between judiciary officials and POGO hubs.

To recall, Gatchalian revealed a possible connection between illegal POGO operators and the judiciary after many POGO workers were able to escape before the raid on the hub in Porac, Pampanga last month.

Only 100 workers of Lucky South 99 in Porac were arrested while more than 1,000 were able to flee, which made it look like they had been tipped off.