MANILA – A Manila court has nullified the term of Alice Leal Guo as mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, ruling that she is actually a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping and therefore ineligible to hold public office in the Philippines.
The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 34 granted the quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General, which sought to remove Guo on the grounds that she is not a natural-born Filipino. The court, in a decision released over the weekend and penned by Presiding Judge Liwliwa Bidalgo-Bucu, concluded that “Chinese citizen Guo Hua Ping and Alice Leal Guo are the same person.”
“Considering the peculiar circumstances involved and the novelty of the case, the Court will not shun away from its bounden duty to litigate,” the ruling stated.
Guo, who had earlier been dismissed from office by the Office of the Ombudsman in August 2024 over alleged ties to a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO), argued that the case was already moot. However, the court pushed forward, emphasizing the national security implications of the case.
Central to the decision was biometric evidence. The court found that Guo and Guo Hua Ping had identical fingerprints, with “15 matching ridge characteristics on their right middle finger and 15 matching ridge characteristics on their right index finger.”
The case stirred widespread public interest following earlier reports linking Guo to alleged illegal POGO activities and questions surrounding her real identity. The court’s ruling not only invalidates her term as mayor but may also set a precedent for future identity and citizenship-related disqualification cases involving public officials./PN
