NPC Tarlac to discuss suggestions to expel Mayor Alice Guo from party —Sotto

The provincial council of the National People's Coalition (NPC) in Tarlac will meet to discuss suggestions to expel Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo from the party, NPC chairman and former Senate president Vicente "Tito" Sotto III said Wednesday.

"Governor Susan will be meeting with the Tarlac mayors to discuss the updates," Sotto told GMA News Online in a Viber message.

Most of the Tarlac mayors are members of the NPC, according to Sotto.

The NPC chairman earlier told GMA News Online that the national council of the party will decide based on the recommendation of NPC Tarlac.

Last month, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian suggested the expulsion of Guo from the party where he is also a member amid allegations that the mayor is linked to criminal activities involving a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in her municipality.

Guo is currently being investigated by the Senate amid her alleged involvement in the operations of Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated, a POGO entity raided in March for alleged illegal activities inside the Baofu Land Development Inc. compound located behind the Bamban Municipal Hall.

Guo is among the incorporators of Baofu, according to Senator Risa Hontiveros who cited Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents.

Gatchalian earlier said his office obtained a copy of the Sangguniang Bayan resolution dated September 2020 containing the council's approval of the application made by Guo, who was then a private citizen, for the license to operate Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc.

Hongsheng was raided in February 2023. The same compound was then used by Zun Yuan Technology when it was raided in the Baofu compound in March 2024.

Guo filed her candidacy as an independent candidate in the May 2022 polls and joined the NPC after she won.—AOL, GMA Integrated News