The camp of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo has formally requested the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to dismiss the misrepresentation complaint filed by the poll body’s law department.
In the counter-affidavit submitted by Guo, the former mayor argued that when she filed her Certificate of Candidacy (COC), she declared her personal information, including her nationality and residence, based on legitimate documents issued by the Philippine government.
These documents, she claims, remain valid and effective from the time she filed her COC to the present.
Guo emphasized that she did not commit any false material misrepresentation in her COC submission.
Furthermore, Guo pointed out that the complainant failed to prove the allegations regarding her birth certificate, which states that she is Filipino.
This is currently being contested in a quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).
Solicitor General Guevarra previously stated that the petition to cancel Guo’s birth certificate is set to be heard by the Tarlac City Regional Trial Court on September 18.
Guo also questioned the validity of the evidence presented to prove that she and the Chinese passport holder Guo Hua Ping are the same person.
She argued that this was an unwarranted and unsubstantiated conclusion, noting that she was not given the opportunity to authenticate the results of the investigation, thus violating her right to due process.
Meanwhile, the law department is expected to submit its recommendation on Guo’s case to the Comelec en banc next week.
