DISMISSED Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against her by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for allegedly misrepresenting herself when she filed her certificate of candidacy in 2022.
Guo entered the plea before the Capas Regional Trial Court (RTC) during her arraignment held via video conference on Thursday, December 5, 2024.
The Comelec filed charges against Guo for allegedly violating Section 74 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) when she declared under oath, during the filing of her COC for the May 2022 elections, that she was eligible for the position she sought to be elected to.
Among the evidence presented by the Comelec was the fingerprint examination conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) where it was found that Guo is one and the same person as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping from Fujian, China.
Guo has been in hot water over her alleged involvement in the raided illegal Pogo hub in Bamban, which also triggered the Office of the Ombudsman to dismiss her from the service for grave misconduct.
She is currently detained at the Pasig City Jail over charges of qualified human trafficking, which stemmed from the rescue of hundreds of undocumented foreign workers in the illegal Pogo hub.
Guo earlier maintained that she is a Filipino who grew up taking care of pigs on their farm in Tarlac. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)