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Former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo attends the Senate hearing on her alleged POGO activities on Sept. 17, 2024.
Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau
MANILA, Philippines — A Manila court has ruled that former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo is a Chinese citizen, thereby disqualifying her from holding public office.
In a 67-page decision dated June 27, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 34 granted the quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), which challenged Guo’s eligibility to serve as an elected official.
“Having established that Guo Hua Ping is undoubtedly a Chinese citizen, the Court concludes that respondent is not only disqualified to hold the position of Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, but also from running for the said position in the first place,” the court’s ruling read.
“Such being the case, respondent Guo Hua Ping a.k.a. Alice Leal Guo is nothing more but a usurper of the Office of the Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac. The fact that she won the election and has already assumed office is of no moment as it did not cure her disqualification of lack of Philippine citizenship,” it added.
A quo warranto case is a special civil action filed against a person who usurps, intrudes into, or unlawfully holds or exercises a public office without lawful authority.
Under Rule 66 of the Rules of Court, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) is authorized to initiate a quo warranto petition before a court.
By granting the petition, the court not only disqualified Alice Guo from holding the position of Bamban mayor but also declared that she was never eligible to run for office in the first place.
“After having conclusively established that Alice Leal Guo is also Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese national, she is certainly disqualified to run for any government position, the court’s ruling read.
“Her disqualification retroacts from the time she filed her Certificate of Candidacy for mayor. As such, she should not have been allowed, in the first place, to run for the said position,” it added.
The court also pointed out that Guo is also known as “Guo Hua Ping” and was born to Chinese parents, Guo Jian Zhong and Lin Wenyi, who are also holding Chinese passports.
The ruling further clarified that neither Guo's Philippine passport nor her birth certificate serves as conclusive proof of her citizenship.
Guo has been held for almost 10 months due to a non-bailable charge of qualified human trafficking stemming from her alleged involvement in the illicit activities of the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) in her locality in Bamban, Tarlac.
The former mayor, however, has consistently maintained that she merely leased her property to the POGO involved.
In August 2024, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered Guo’s dismissal from office due to grave misconduct.
