SENATORS expressed their belief yesterday that Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac is not a Filipino citizen after major discrepancies were found in her birth certificate issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros, who chairs the Committee on Women, said research conducted by her office revealed that Guo’s father, Angelito Guo, a Chinese, has no birth records with the PSA. Her mother, a certain Amelia Villaruel Leal, also has no birth records with the PSA.
These were revealed when the committee held its eighth hearing on allegations that Guo is allegedly protecting the POGO hub raided by authorities in Bamban last March.
Hontiveros also said the mayor’s parents have no PSA record of being married, contrary to what was listed in Guo’s birth certificate that they were married.
Marizza Grande of the PSA said the agency conducted a fact-finding investigation on Guo and found several discrepancies in her birth certificate, like the fact that Angelito Guo was listed as Filipino in Guo’s birth certificate. However, the mayor said her father is Chinese and has a Chinese passport.
Hontiveros said that since Angelito Guo registered his daughter’s birth when she was already 19, it was possible he provided false information for whatever reason.
Responding to a question raised by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on whether Amelia Leal is not a real person, lawyer Eliezar Ambatali, the PSA’s legal service director, said it is possible as “there are several irregularities in this birth certificate.”
He also questioned why Angelito Guo has been frequently traveling to China since based on immigration records, the mayor’s father travels to China two to three times a month.
“Negosyo niya dito ay hindi kumikita pero bumibiyahe siya doon (His business here is not earning and yet he can afford to travel to China),” he said, adding the Anti-Money Laundering Council should investigate Angelito Guo.
Ambatali said a case may be filed to cancel a person’s birth certificate if it does not meet the minimum requirements needed to declare a birth certificate valid.
Hontiveros also disputed the mayor’s claim that she is an only child, saying research by her committee showed Angelito and Amelia have three children, two registered in Caloocan City and the other in Bamban, Tarlac.
The mayor said she only learned that the incorporators of Baofu Land Development Inc., where she has a 50 percent stake, are involved in criminal activities through social media.
Senate president pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada said he has information that Guo has a “partner” involved in the operations of the raided POGO hub in Bamban. Guo responded by saying she has never had an affair with anybody, more so someone involved in the POGO hub.
Hontiveros said Guo was obviously lying before the committee, citing her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
“Ipinipilit ninyo na simpleng tao lang kayo pero ang laman ng SALN niyo ay daan-daang milyong piso. Mayor Guo, pagsisinungaling pa rin po ang paglilihim ng katotohanan (You are insisting that you are a simple person but your SALN shows you are worth millions of pesos. Mayor Guo, hiding the truth is also lying),” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros said law enforcement agencies have come forward to present “more comprehensive findings” about Guo that they will discuss with her in an executive session.
“Findings that involve national security and transnational organized crime,” she added.
Gatchalian said they must craft measures so the late registration of birth records would not be abused.
