Latest news with #Tarlac
South China Morning Post
11-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
No more Alice Guos? Philippine lawmaker seeks new law against fake citizenship
A new bill that seeks to establish a new civil registration system in the Philippines in a bid to prevent 'more Alice Guos' is a step in the right direction, but may not be adequate to address the country's deep-seated patronage politics and bribery, observers warn. Filed by Philippine Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, the bill proposes to create a new civil registration and vital statistics system that aims to prevent foreigners from acquiring Philippine citizenship through fraudulent means, such as through fake birth certificates. The system would be designed to 'accurately establish an individual's identity for both administrative and legal purposes'. Gatchalian identified the bill as priority legislation for the new Congress, which began this month. His proposal came just weeks after a Philippine court ruled that Alice Guo, a former mayor of Bamban town in Tarlac province at the centre of the controversy surrounding the notorious Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), was a Chinese citizen. 'We want a new system so that no more Alice Guos would emerge, those pretending to be Filipinos and would infiltrate the government to deceive,' Gatchalian said in a statement on Tuesday. The bill, filed on Monday, also proposes 'higher penalties' for offences such as the forgery of civil registry documents, submission of false information during civil registration, and easing the preparation of civil registry documents that contain fraudulent information.
UAE Moments
30-06-2025
- Politics
- UAE Moments
Court Ousts Alice Guo, Declares Her a Chinese Citizen
Alice Guo, who served as mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, has been officially removed from office after a Manila court ruled that she is not a Filipino citizen but a Chinese national, making her ineligible to hold public office in the Philippines. In a decision dated June 27, 2025, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 34 declared Guo had no legal right to run for or occupy the position of mayor. The ruling came in response to a quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), which questioned her qualifications. Court: Guo Assumed False Identity to Run for Public Office The court found that Guo is "undoubtedly" Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese national born to Chinese parents, and entered the Philippines in 1999 under an investor visa as a dependent. Evidence showed Guo had used the identity 'Alice Leal Guo', claiming to be born in Tarlac in 1986. However, her birth certificate was only registered in 2005, when she was already 19. Records of her supposed Filipino parents, Angelito Guo and Amelia Leal, were also non-existent in civil registries. Key forensic evidence from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confirmed that her fingerprints matched those of Guo Hua Ping. The court ruled this fingerprint evidence as 'infallible and faultless,' backing the claim that Guo faked her identity. Legal Consequences and National Security Concerns Judge Liwliwa Hidalgo-Bucu ruled that Guo's election in 2022 does not legitimize her post, as she never qualified to run in the first place. She was found guilty of usurping the powers of the Office of the Mayor and was immediately disqualified. The court emphasized the threat to national security, saying Guo was able to gain power by posing as a Filipino and bypassing constitutional requirements. It stated that the situation is more than just a legal issue—it's a security risk. Senate Reaction and Call for Further Action Senator Sherwin Gatchalian supported the court's ruling, saying it affirms longstanding suspicions about Guo's citizenship. He urged the government to fully pursue all legal actions against her and prevent her from owning land. Gatchalian also called for an investigation into individuals who may have enabled or protected Guo, warning that foreign nationals should never be allowed to manipulate public institutions. What's Next With the court decision now final, Alice Guo has been stripped of her post and may face additional legal charges. The OSG, with help from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), gathered documents and presented key witnesses to support the case. The ruling closes one chapter in a case that has drawn widespread public attention and may open the door for more probes into identity fraud and foreign interference in local governance.
South China Morning Post
30-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Former Philippine mayor Alice Guo ‘nothing more than a usurper': court
Philippine court has ruled that Alice Guo – a former town mayor who rose to national infamy over her alleged ties to foreign criminal syndicates and questions about her true identity – was never qualified to hold office, declaring her 'undoubtedly a Chinese citizen' who had 'usurped' her post. The Manila Regional Trial Court ruled on Friday that Guo's election and assumption of office in Bamban, Tarlac, from 2022 to 2024 were 'null and void'. Agreeing with a petition by the Office of the Solicitor General, it asserted that Guo had never been a natural-born Filipino, as required under the constitution. 'Guo is nothing more than a usurper of the office of the mayor of Bamban, Tarlac. The fact that she won the election and has already assumed office is of no moment as it did not cure her disqualification of lack of Philippine citizenship,' it said. 'Guo Hua Ping is undoubtedly a Chinese citizen, born to Chinese parents, namely Guo Jian Zhong and Lin Wenyi,' the court said, adding that she and her parents held Chinese passports. Guo was dismissed from public office after an anti-corruption court last August found her guilty of 'grave misconduct' for her alleged ties to an offshore gaming operator in Bamban that authorities said was carrying out scam operations and human trafficking. Alice Guo arrives at the Valenzuela Regional Trial Court on September 20, last year. Photo: Reuters The former mayor fled the country in July following a warrant for her arrest due to her failure to attend a series of Senate hearings investigating criminal activity linked to Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).
South China Morning Post
27-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
Ex-Pogo workers fuel rise in Philippine online scams, police say
Filipinos who once worked for offshore gaming operators are turning to online scams, law enforcement officials have warned, amid signs that the industry's shutdown has given way to a more fragmented and harder-to-police criminal landscape. Advertisement Many of those recently arrested for cybercrime offences had 'branched out on their own', using skills they had gained while working at Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), according to Brigadier General Bernard Yang, head of the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group. 'At this point, we cannot really say that these scam activities are still linked to Pogos,' Yang told a media forum on Wednesday. 'Based on our statistics, they probably worked [for them] before, but after Pogos shut down, they picked it up and are now doing it independently.' The former Pogo workers were likely using devices they had retrieved from the scam hubs in their operations, he added. Pogos are gaming firms that cater mainly to overseas Chinese clientele. Raids by local authorities have uncovered their links to alleged crimes such as human trafficking and scams. A police officer (front, centre) talking to foreign nationals after a raid in a scam centre within a complex of buildings in Bamban town of Tarlac province in March last year. Photo: PAOCC/AFP Yang added that based on their recent arrests this year, most of them were Filipinos. A total of 5,099 people were arrested for cybercrimes from January to mid-June. Police said 608 were arrested in entrapment operations, with seven being foreign nationals. The cybercrime chief did not provide a breakdown of arrests made specifically for online scams.
