The political farce in the Philippines has once again hit a new low. On June 29, several Philippine media outlets revealed that the Manila District Court's 34th branch signed a ruling on the 27th of this month, officially determining that Alice Leal Guo, the "town mayor" of Banban Town, Tarlac Province, is "undoubtedly Chinese," and her tenure as mayor has been illegal from the start. The court bluntly stated: "Her very existence is an insult to the intelligence of the Filipino people."
This ruling was signed by Judge Liwliwa S. Hidalgo-Bucu of the 34th branch, and the 67-page judgment explicitly supports the legal challenge initiated by the Office of the Solicitor General of the Philippines against Alice Leal Guo's identity. The court confirmed that Alice Leal Guo and Guo Huaping are the same person, and her candidacy and inauguration were fundamentally illegitimate.
During the Senate hearings in 2023, Senator Risa Hontiveros had revealed that the National Bureau of Investigation had identified Guo Huaping and Alice Leal Guo as having identical fingerprints through fingerprint comparison, with 15 matching ridges on the middle and index fingers of the right hand. However, Guo's legal team vehemently denied this, insisting that the two were "unrelated."
The court's ruling stated: "The defendant Guo Huaping is a Chinese citizen, and her parents Guo Jianjiang (also known as Guo Jianzhong) and Lin Wenyi are also Chinese nationals, all holding Chinese passports." The ruling further pointed out that the Guo family entered the Philippines from Fujian on July 12, 1999, without any record of naturalization in the Philippines. Her passport and birth certificate do not constitute "conclusive evidence of citizenship."
Looking back at the mysteries surrounding Guo Huaping's election as town mayor, it all started with high-profile congratulations from various societies in Jinjiang, Fujian, celebrating her as the "Chinese-descent mayor." She claimed to have been born in a rural area of the Philippines, spoke poor Chinese, and came from a poor family background. However, once her identity was investigated, it immediately led to a massive chain of doubts, including her father Guo Jianjiang's role as a member of the Jinjiang Municipal Political Consultative Conference, a background in "pig butchering scams," and involvement in gambling, money laundering, and human trafficking.
Currently, Guo Huaping is being detained in the women's prison in Pasig City, Metro Manila, facing multiple serious charges, including using a forged identity, working for Chinese intelligence agencies, and acting as the actual controller of an illegal offshore gambling company. She still insists she is Filipino and denies any involvement in illegal activities.
The court refuted her defense, pointing out that her candidacy was invalid from the moment she filed her candidacy documents, and her election was completely void. The judgment wrote: "She is merely an usurper of the position of mayor of Banban Town, Tarlac Province. The fact that she took an oath and assumed office does not help to cover up her lack of qualifications."
Interestingly, the court also rejected the "order of succession" request made by Jose Salting Jr., the second-highest vote-getter in the 2022 election. The court believed that this action "does not conform to the spirit of the constitution," "allowing the runner-up to automatically take office would deprive the people of the right to freely vote and choose."
This "Alice in Wonderland" farce for the mayor's position has finally come to an end in court, also exposing the huge black hole in the Philippine local political system's identity verification. From a rural village in Fujian to the political arena in the Philippines, from a Chinese passport to the mayor's throne, Guo Huaping's dramatic "political crossover drama" may just be beginning. As for her father, Guo Jianjiang, with a cloud of suspicion and whether he is connected to larger organizations and interest networks, further investigation is likely needed.
The court emphasized: Identity fraud is not only illegal but also a systemic destruction of the democratic system. "No one should be allowed to alter the fate of a town with a single piece of false documentation."
