Philippine senate hearing: suspended mayor Alice Guo plans to run in next year’s elections

The lawyer for the suspended mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, said she will seek re-election in the 2025 polls.

The Philippines.- Attorney Stephen David has told media that her client, Alice Guo, the suspended mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, has chosen to run for mayor again. During an interview at the Department of Justice at the start of the preliminary investigation into money laundering charges against Guo and 35 others, David said Guo’s decision was to demonstrate her commitment to her constituents.

He said that the case questioning Guo’s qualifications is still pending in the courts and that the Ombudsman’s decision to disqualify her from public office is also pending. “What is happening is just technicalities. She is barred from running, being disqualified, but that is not yet final. But definitely she will be running for mayor,” he said.

He also stated that there have been no court decisions declaring that Guo is not a Filipino. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has claimed that a Chinese passport under the name Guo Hua Ping indicates that she is a Chinese citizen born in Fujian. 

Regarding Guo’s candidacy, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) stated that it would accept her candidacy “for now,” emphasising that its duty is purely ministerial. “If a candidate is facing charges, as long as there is no final judgment or conviction, he or she can still run in the elections. It means somebody has to file a petition to question his/her candidacy,” Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said in a radio interview Friday.