MANILA – The Commission of Elections’ (Comelec) fact-finding panel has recommended the filing of an election offense case against suspended Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo.
Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said the case was for alleged misrepresentation in her certificate of candidacy (COC) when she ran in the May 2022 polls.
“The (law) department finds sufficient factual basis to proceed with the preliminary investigation and thus respectfully recommends that this department be directed to file a motu proprio complaint and conduct a preliminary investigation against Mayor Alice Guo / Guo Hua Ping for material misrepresentation in violation of Section 74 in relation to Section 262 of the Omnibus Election Code,” Garcia said in an interview.
The poll body official added that the recommendation would be immediately studied by the Comelec en banc.
“Napatunayan din ng investigation panel na ang lahat ng fingerprints nung anim na tao – dalawa sa National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), isa sa Bureau of Immigration (BI), tatlo sa COC, application for voter registration, at Election Day Computerized Voters List (EDCVL) ng Comelec – lahat ‘yan pare-pareho at isang tao lang may-ari ng fingerprints na ito. Base sa findings ng mga eksperto at investigating panel ay kay Mayor Guo,” he said.
Garcia also said the seven-member Comelec en banc will decide on the panel’s recommendation “early next week”.
“Kung sakali ang action ng Commission ay adopt ang recommendations ng law department, magkakaroon naman ng preliminary investigation at makakasagot naman si Mayor Guo” Garcia said.
The fact-finding panel was tasked to analyze the fingerprints of Guo from her voter registration records, COC, and EDCVL for the 2022 national and local polls and 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.
The BI report showed that a certain Guo Hua Ping entered the Philippines on Jan. 12, 2003 when she was 13 years old while the NBI reported that the fingerprints of Mayor Guo matched with that of Guo Hua Ping.
In her COC, the controversial Bamban mayor indicated that her place of birth is Tarlac, Tarlac and has been living in the Philippines for 35 years and two months./PN
