THE wheels of justice have started rolling, with government lawyers formally filing a petition to oust suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Guo Hua Ping, also known as Alice Guo, from her post.
The Office of the Solicitor General filed a 46-page quo warranto petition with the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 34 to declare Guo ineligible to hold office as mayor since she is not a Filipino citizen.
Under the Rules of Court, the solicitor general may initiate a quo warranto petition against government officials who may be unlawfully holding office, or who commit or allow an act that could be a ground for forfeiture of office.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said Guo “is unlawfully holding the position and illegally exercising the duties and responsibilities of the Office of the Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.”
“Her continuous discharge of the duties, powers and responsibilities of the Office of Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac is tantamount to usurpation of such office,” the petition said.
Guevarra added: “(S)he is not a Filipino citizen. She is a Chinese national. Thus, she is ineligible to run for any elective public office,..(S)he has committed acts which, by provision of law, constitute a ground for the forfeiture of her office. More specifically, she has committed acts of serious dishonesty which, under the local government code, warrant her removal from office.”
We cannot second guess how soon the court will make a ruling after the Sept. 18 haring, but we know many are watching developments in this case, which some analysts and other opinion makers have described as perhaps just the tip of a greater iceberg.
Guo and several others are facing human trafficking complaints before the Department of Justice.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed the complaint against Guo and her co-accused for their alleged involvements in illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators in her municipality.
The OSG also cited various government records stating that Guo is Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, the daughter of two Chinese citizens, Lin Wenyi and Guo Jian Zhong, holder of a Chinese passport and was born on Aug. 31, 1990 in Fujian, China.
“There is no credible official record or document establishing that respondent Guo Hua Ping is a citizen of the Philippines, either by birth or by naturalization,” it said.
In early July, the OSG filed a petition before a Tarlac trial court seeking to cancel Guo’s birth certificate on the grounds of her failure to comply with the legal requirements of late birth registration.
