Tarlac RTC sets Dec. 5 arraignment of Alice Guo's misrepresentation case

The Tarlac Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 66 has set the arraignment for the material misrepresentation case of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo. 

Guo, who is presently detained at the BJMP Pasig, City Jail, will be arraigned on Thursday, December 5, 2024 about the case the Commission on Elections (Comelec) filed against her. 

In October, the poll body formally lodged charges against Guo for allegedly violating Section 74 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) when she filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) for mayor in the 2022 national and local elections despite being a Chinese citizen.  

"That on or about October 1, 2021, and during the period for the filing of Certificates of Candidacy in connection with the May 9, 2022 National and Local Elections in the Municipality of Bamban, Province of Tarlac, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the accused Alice Leal Guo/Hua Ping Lin Guo, did then and there, willfully and unlawfully, commit material misrepresentation by filing her COC for the position of Mayor of the Municipality of Bamban, Province of Tarlac, and declaring under oath that she is eligible for the position she seeks to be elected, when in truth and in fact, she is a Chinese citizen and a resident of Fujian, China,” the Comelec said in its filed information. 

The charges were filed before the Tarlac RTC. 

Guo is facing a qualified human trafficking case before a Pasig court and a graft case before a Valenzuela City court due to her alleged involvement in the illegal activities of a POGO hub that was raided by authorities in Bamban.

The dismissed mayor is also facing a tax evasion complaint, 87 counts of money laundering, and a perjury and falsification complaint before the Justice Department.

Guo — who according to government authorities is the same person as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping — has denied the accusations against her.—LDF, GMA Integrated News