Gatchalian urges Alice Guo, suspected mother Wen Yi Lin to take DNA test

To prove her nationality once and for all, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday challenged Bamban Mayor Alice Guo to undergo DNA testing with Wen Yi Lin, who is suspected of being her actual mother.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Gatchalian said that based on his analysis,  Wen Yi, also called Winnie, is the biological mother of Guo. 

The mayor earlier claimed that her mother is a Filipino named Amelia Leal, but the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said they have no birth record of such a person.

“Ang hamon ko sa kanilang dalawa, kay Mayor Alice at kay Wen Yi, na magpa-DNA test para mapatunayan na hindi o kung siya nga talaga ang biological mother,” the senator said.

(I challenge Mayor Alice and Wen Yi to take a DNA test to prove if the latter is the biological mother or not.)

It was Senator Risa Hontiveros who released documents on Thursday showing that Wen Yi, along with the mayor’s father, Jian Zhong Guo, and siblings, are co-incorporators in Guo's businesses.

Hontiveros also said that based on the document, Wen Yi may have given birth to Guo while she was 15 years old.

Gatchalian, however, pointed out that it would not be easy to conduct a DNA test because Wen Yi and Jian Zhong Guo are no longer in the Philippines and already flew to another country, citing Bureau of Immigration records.

“Itong dalawa ay Chinese citizens, so talagang pwede silang bumalik sa China at huwag nang bumalik dito. Kapag 'yan nangyari, wala na tayong pagkakataon na mapatunayan na itong dalawa ay kanyang mga magulang,” he said.

(These two are Chinese citizens, so they can definitely go back to China and not come back to the Philippines. When that happens, we will have no chance to prove that these two are Guo’s parents.)

Reforms needed

The lawmaker underscored the importance of knowing Guo’s real nationality because it would prove if there is something wrong in her birth certificate—a document that could be used to get a passport, get employment record, buy land, and even file a certificate of candidacy.

“Ako naniniwala, itong si Mayor Alice, dahil nakita ko naman sa kanyang Facebook, napaka-aktibo niya, pwede pa siyang maging congressman or governor o mas mataas pa, na ang kanyang birth certificate ay defective pala at irregular,” he said.

(Since Mayor Alice is very active, I believe she still has a chance to be a congressman, a governor, or even higher even if her birth certificate is defective and irregular.)

Gatchalian thus said that the birth certificate system should be reformed as it is prone to abuses, particularly by foreigners.

He also said that the pattern of late registration of Guo and her siblings’ birth certificates go beyond negligence and could be done on purpose by their father.

Hontiveros earlier revealed that Guo's supposed parents—who were both declared as "Filipinos”---do not have birth records in the PSA.

With this, PSA legal service director Eliezer Ambatali said there was a "high possibility" that Angelito Guo and Amelia Leal—the names which appeared in Guo's late-registration birth certificate—do not exist.

Guo previously said that she was a love child of her parents after her father made her mother, a house helper, pregnant. Her mother also supposedly left after she was born.

Apart from her identity, Guo is also being scrutinized in relation to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Bamban, Tarlac that was raided by authorities in March. Illegal activities reportedly transpired in the establishment, which included human trafficking and illegal detention.

The 38-year old mayor has repeatedly denied involvement in the operations of the POGO hub which is situated just behind the Bamban municipal hall.

POGO ban

Furthermore, Gatchalian reiterated his stance that POGOs should be completely banned from the Philippines because of all the illegal activities being linked to these establishments.

“Unang unang proposal, total banned na ang POGO. 'Wag nang papasukin sa ating bansa. Nakikita na walang kabutihang dala ang POGO dito at nag-iiba na siya—una human trafficking, scamming, tapos ngayon money laundering,” he said.

(My main proposal is that POGO should be totally banned here. Don't let them enter our country. We could see that POGO does not bring any good, and it is changing illegal activities from human trafficking, scamming, and now money laundering.)

“Hindi matatapos ‘to eh. Lahat ng kasamaan na ginagawa sa ibang bansa, dito na nila dinadala sa ating bansa,” he added.

(This won't end. All the bad things that were being done in other countries, the POGOs bring here to our country.)

In September 2023, the Senate committee on ways and means recommended the immediate expulsion of POGOs from the country in a bid to help maintain peace and order and sustain economic growth.

Among the signatories of the committee report were Gatchalian and Hontiveros.

Last month, Hontiveros called on the Executive Department and the Senate leadership to act quickly on such a recommendation to ban POGO in the Philippines, noting that crimes related to the industry have been going on for about four years already.—RF, GMA Integrated News