SolGen: Biggest question on Mayor Guo is her true citizenship

The most critical question that Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo has to answer is her citizenship amid conflicting statements, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said Monday.

Guevarra made the response when asked on updates on Guo. He previously said that his office is considering filing a quo warranto petition against the mayor over her alleged links to criminal activities of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) in her jurisdiction.

"You have listened to the Senate [hearings] and it seems to be that there is a lot of conflicting information, if not disinformation," Guevarra told reporters at the sidelines of a public hearing on the COVID-19 response of the Duterte administration's where he served as Justice chief.

"We need to be able to discern what evidence is competent enough, that it will hold before the court, and citizenship...it is the most important and crucial question," he added.

Guevarra said they are looking at Guo's birth certificate, the late registration of her birth, nationality of her parents, among others.

"Those matters will have bearing on her citizenship, so that is what we are trying to find out," he said.

"We do not want to tell everyone of our findings until we are able to gather all the necessary information. We do not want to make conclusions based on incomplete data," he added.

Asked if President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has asked him of updates on Guo, Guevarra replied, "Not yet."

"But in due time, he may ask that question and we better prepare for that," he added.

Also on Monday, the Office of the Ombudsman suspended Guo and two other Bamban local officials over their alleged failure to address POGO-linked criminal activities such as human trafficking and online scams within their jurisdiction.

This development came after the Interior and Local Government Department filed graft complaints against Guo over her alleged POGO-links.

Guo, for her part, earlier said that her father is a Chinese citizen while her mother is a Filipino woman who was a househelp,.

Guo's birth records, however, have stated conflicting details.—AOL, GMA Integrated News