Suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo is still in the Philippines, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said yesterday, citing information from other government agencies.
Justice Undersecretary Nick Ty said the government has information on Guo’s whereabouts within the country.
Guo has been evading a Senate arrest warrant after repeatedly skipping committee hearings on the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in her town.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government filed graft charges against Guo with the Ombudsman in June, leading to her six-month suspension. The DoJ has also filed a human trafficking complaint against her in connection with the POGO hub.
Guo’s citizenship has been questioned amid inconsistent testimonies about her background and the allegedly dubious documents related to her Filipino citizenship.
The Office of the Solicitor General has filed a quo warranto petition seeking to bar her from holding the post of mayor for alleged misrepresentation and other offenses.
The government has also moved to cancel her birth certificate.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) law department on Thursday recommended the filing of misrepresentation charges against Guo after fingerprint analysis confirmed that Guo and Chinese citizen Guo Hua Ping were the same person. Guo Hua Ping entered the Philippines as a child in the 1990s under a Chinese passport.
“Our experts found that the six fingerprints belonged to one person only,” Comelec Chair George Garcia said.
“Therefore, because they are the same person, there’s a presumption that there’s a misrepresentation that Alice Guo is a Filipino. According to our law department, a case must be filed against her,” the poll chief said.