(UPDATE) THE Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) has expelled Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo from the party given the “gravity” of charges and ongoing investigations against her.
NPC Chairman Vicente Sotto III ordered Guo’s removal from the party after Tarlac Gov. Susan Yap sought her expulsion for Guo’s alleged link to the criminal activities of some illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).
The Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission charged Guo with human trafficking.
Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN
Sotto noted that the PNP linked Guo to the “grand conspiracy to commit labor trafficking of about 500 foreign POGO workers.”
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Guo’s citizenship was also in question as some quarters suspected her of being a “spy” for China.
In her letter to Sotto dated June 17, Yap said, “The mystery of her citizenship, further, has clouded her qualification to be a member of our party.”
“As our party stands to uphold honesty and integrity, and with Mayor Guo’s character and citizenship now being in question, with the sheer volume of evidence now being lodged against her, and absent any compelling evidence being presented in order to dispel these, I humbly pray that Mayor Guo be removed from the party,” Yap wrote.
In reply to Yap’s letter, Sotto on June 22 wrote, “The NPC will not tolerate any unlawful acts or any appearance of impropriety by its members that will undermine the principle of our party.”
“In this regard, after due consultation with the leaders and members of our party and considering the gravity of charges and ongoing investigations against Mayor Guo, I hereby order the removal of Mayor Alice Guo from the roster of members of the Nationalist People’s Coalition,” Sotto wrote.
Guo is currently under preventive suspension ordered by the Ombudsman due to several administrative complaints.
Her suspension stemmed from the complaint filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government for graft against her, citing findings of serious illegal acts committed by the local chief.
“Without even suggesting that we prejudge the offenses being made against her, it appears that Mayor Guo has not, at the moment, presented compelling evidence which would disprove the immense documents being introduced against her,” Yap said.
“Her mere denial, without presentation of supporting evidence which should exculpate her name and put an end to the controversy, places her integrity in question at the moment,” Yap said.
“With humility, while we are not in any position to make declarations regarding her citizenship, as this is a matter within the jurisdiction of the Commission on Elections and our courts, we cannot, again, discount the volume of evidence being presented which run counter her claims of being a Filipino,” she added.
“If the evidence being presented, tending to show that Mayor Guo is ‘Guo Hua Ping,’ is proven to be true, it would then appear that there was deception from her end when she ran for public office,” Yap said.
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