Comelec experts visit Bamban to check Alice Guo's election documents

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Erwin Garcia on Tuesday said the fact-finding committee investigating suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo is set to release its recommendation on her case this week. 

Garcia made this disclosure as he and technical experts from the Comelec visited the town of Bamban to inspect Guo’s voter registration records, certificate of candidacy in the 2022 May polls, as well as the election day computerized voters list (EDCVL), which contain the details of voters who cast their ballots, including their fingerprints.

“Ine-expect natin pagkatapos ng araw na ito, i-submit na sa atin ng investigating panel ang kanilang recommendation sa Comelec en banc upang alamin natin meron ba talagang misrepresentation? May pagsisinungaling ba? Therefore, ano ang karampatang parusa kung sakaling mapapatunayan na ganun nga,” Garcia told reporters in an interview.

(We expect that after today, the investigating panel  would submit their recommendation to the Comelec en banc to determine if there was indeed material misrepresentation. Was there lying? Therefore, what is the appropriate punishment in case this is proven to be so.)

Early this month, Garcia ordered the Comelec Law Department to form a fact-finding panel that would determine if Guo committed material misrepresentation in her candidacy in the 2022 polls, which may warrant the filing of an election offense.

The committee’s recommendation will be submitted to the Law Department, which in turn, will forward a formal recommendation to the Comelec en banc — which will counter-check the findings based on the documents presented and determine if there is a probable cause to the case.

“Sabi ng expert hanggang bukas masa-submit niya ang kaniyang findings. At the same time, hopefully ang Law Department makapagbigay naman ng initial recommendations sa atin hanggang Byernes. Sapagkat again, nagkaroon ng bagyo kaya di natapos ang investigation. Dahil diyan, humingi ng ilang araw ang Law Department para ma-complete ang investigation report,” Garcia said.

(The experts said they would submit the findings tomorrow. At the same time, we hope the Law Department can provide initial recommendations until Friday. They asked for more time to complete their investigation because of the impact of the tropical cyclone.)

Garcia earlier said the committee was given two weeks to complete its investigation. He also reiterated Guo will be given five days to respond to the findings and recommendations of the panel.

Guo is at the center of the Senate investigation into the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hub in Bamban after several seized documents showed that she was personally involved in the processing of documents for its operations.

The 37-year old mayor’s citizenship was also questioned due to her inconsistent testimonies about her background and the supposed dubious documents regarding her Filipino citizenship.

The Senate has issued an arrest order against Guo, who was suspended as mayor for repeatedly failing to attend the upper chamber’s investigation into the raided POGO hub in her town. The mayor is currently hiding from authorities.—RF, GMA Integrated News