Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo will file her certificate of candidacy next week, her lawyer said on Friday, October 4, 2024.

"Next week," Stephen David, Guo's legal counsel, said when asked about the matter in an ambush interview at the Department of Justice (DOJ), according to a report on GMA News Online.

David did not specify if Guo would once again seek the mayoralty post in Bamban, where authorities raided an illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO).

Speaking before the four committees of the House of Representatives investigating crimes linked to POGOs, Guo said on Sept. 19 that she has yet to decide whether or not she would seek reelection in the 2025 midterm elections.

At the time, Guo said members of her slate during the 2022 elections would still seek to extend their terms next year.

She added that she has not been communicating a lot with her vice mayor and councilors even before she escaped the Philippines.

The filing of COCs will run from Oct. 1 to 8, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In August, the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed Guo from service with forfeiture of all her retirement benefits as well as perpetual disqualification from public office.

It said Guo's acts, such as her involvement in the raided POGO hub in Bamban showed a "willful intent on her part to violate the law or disregard established rules."

David was at the DOJ on Friday to represent Guo, also identified as Guo Hua Ping, in the preliminary probe on the money laundering complaint against her and 35 others.

Shiela Guo, the former mayor's supposed sister, attended the deportation case hearing at the Bureau of Immigration.

Meanwhile, Cassandra Li Ong, the authorized representative of POGO firm Lucky South 99 in Pampanga, attended the hearing in person.

Guo is facing a qualified human trafficking case before a Pasig court as well as a graft case before a Valenzuela court.

A quo warranto petition was also filed against Guo with a Manila court, as well as a petition to cancel her birth certificate before a Tarlac court.

She is also facing a tax evasion complaint before the Justice Department.

Guo was recently tagged as a Chinese spy by Chinese Cambodian businessman She Zhijiang in a report of international news channel Al Jazeera.

The former mayor has denied knowing or having any connection with She, who also claimed to be a former Chinese spy.

(via Joahna Lei Casilao, GMA Integrated News)