Comelec examining Guo’s poll docs

(FILE PHOTO) Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia
PNA

(FILE PHOTO) Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia
PNA

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Lopez had earlier been cited in contempt during an inquiry into the Office of the Vice President’s confidential funds.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia will lead a team to visit the poll body’s provincial office in Tarlac tomorrow to examine the voting records of suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo.
With Garcia would be fingerprint experts who would examine Guo’s voting documents and the papers she submitted in running for mayor in 2022.
“The fingerprints are there. There are signatures, fingerprints, and pictures that we could see. All these can surely help the SolGen (Solicitor General),” said Garcia.
“We will give additional evidence to the SolGen. And we are sure that our findings will further help the quo warranto petition that the SolGen will file,” Garcia said.
Guo had been accused in several Senate hearings of being a fake Filipino after having difficulty providing proof of her being born and growing up in the Philippines. She was also suspected of being a Chinese spy.
Whatever pieces of evidence would be gathered from this visit will be added to the Comelec’s basis in filing administrative and criminal cases against Guo.
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) yesterday said the quo warranto case, questioning the basis of an official’s hold to an office, against Guo will be filed next month.
“Actually, we should have filed the petition for quo warranto. However, new evidence keeps on turning up that strengthens what we already have,” Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said.
“Thus, we incorporated the new evidence that turned up at the Senate inquiry and we are consolidating everything and we are hoping to file the petition for quo warranto before the end of next month.”
Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Tuesday said Guo must appear in the chamber’s hearing should she want her apology for missing the same accepted by the chamber.
In a press briefing, Escudero lamented that the mayor’s letter did not indicate that she would attend the hearing, hence, he could not accept Guo’s apology “until she shows up and obeys the Senate.”
In her statement last week, embattled Guo criticized Escudero’s fellow senators, Risa Hontiveros, Win Gatchalian, and other officers, who seemed “fixated” on her instead of tackling other relevant issues.
Escudero responded to her, saying “Guo is not in a position” to tell senators what they should and should not prioritize.
Following Escudero’s remarks, Guo, in a letter dated 20 July, apologized for her statement that senators should focus on other issues in the country instead of being “fixated on her.”
“I would like to say sorry if there had been a misunderstanding regarding may statement. I don’t have intention to tell or dictate the Senate what should they need to prioritize,” Guo said.
Guo mentioned she is ready to face the allegations against her and prove her innocence before the Ombudsman, Department of Justice, Bureau of Immigration and the courts.