What we know about Alice Guo, the Bamban mayor who is allegedly linked to POGOs
Tarlac’s Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo has been subject to scrutiny due to her alleged involvement in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) companies in her town.
In a Senate committee hearing last Tuesday, May 7, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros pressed Guo about her background to confirm her nationality—especially since she currently holds a high post in the local government—and her alleged involvement with Chinese companies.
"Kahapon sa ating hearing, halos malunod tayo sa rami ng rebelasyon na nanganak pa ng mas maraming tanong. Una na diyan: Totoo kaya na Chinese talaga si Mayor Alice Guo?" Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros said in a press conference on Wednesday, May 8.
She also noted how Bamban residents said the mayor came out of nowhere during the 2022 elections.
"Ayon mismo sa mga taga-Bamban, bigla na lang lumutang ang pangalan ni Mayor Alice Guo nung eleksyon noong 2022. May nakakakilala kaya talaga sa kanya sa sarili nyang bayan? Mayor Alice was catapulted to power in a small town in Tarlac, but does she have the public records that will strongly establish her identity as a Filipino national?" Hontiveros added.
Guo became the first female mayor of Bamban after she won in the 2022 elections with 16,503 votes. Here's what we know about her based on the Senate hearings.
Family background
Delving into her family background, Guo said that her father is half-Chinese and half-Filipino. In retrieved records, however, it was found that her father’s nationality was indicated as Filipino on her birth certificate, but Chinese in their business documents.
"Ang meron tayo ay ito: certificate of live birth. Dito naman, Filipino ang nakalagay na nationality ng tatay niya, pero sa dokumento ng embroidery business, Chinese ang nationality na naka-record. At sa kakatanong nga natin kahapon, inamin ni Mayor Alice na 'Jian Zhong Guo' pala ang totoong pangalan ng kanyang ama, at yung Angelito Guo ay Filipino name lang daw," Hontiveros stated.
Guo added that she had no hospital records of her birth because she was born inside their home. However, she couldn’t recall its exact location, saying she no longer remembers it.
In the same hearing, she likewise shared that her family has a hog-raising business, adding that she grew up in a farm with her father.
Hontiveros probed why she was only able to register her birth in 2003, 17 years after her birth in 1986, but the mayor answered that she would get back to it as she didn’t have any idea as well.
No school records
The mayor also explained to Hontiveros that she doesn't have school records because she was homeschooled from elementary to high school. She also did not go to college.
However, Hontiveros said she has doubts about Guo going to homeschool in the country because she could not even identify her homeschool provider.
"Sorry na lang, naging homeschool parent din ako, kaya alam ko. Ang bawat estudyante at magulang na nag-ho-homeschool ay meron kaming homeschool provider. So, bakit hindi niya alam?" the senator said. She also noted that Guo answered that she only had a tutor during those years.
Alleged link to POGOs
During the hearing, Guo was asked about the Baofu Corporation compound in Anapul in Bamban, which housed POGOs, specifically Hong Sheng Gaming Technology Incorporated and Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated, which were raided in February 2023 and March 2024, respectively.
In a separate interview, Sen. Win Gatchalian shared that when Guo was asked about the worth of investments and income of her company, the mayor just said that she doesn't have an idea.
“’Yung nakakabahala pa doon, natuklasan namin na isa sa mga partners niya ay pugante, fugitive, may warrant of arrest sa China at nung inaaresto na dito sa Pilipinas, nakatakas,” he shared.
Guo has since denied the allegations.
“Hindi po ako operator, protector, or coddler po ng POGO,” she said. “Wala po akong kinalaman sa kanilang operation at sa kanilang gawain sa loob at labas po ng POGO,” she added. She, however, admitted that she used to be an incorporator of Baofu and owned 50% of the shares, but eventually sold it before entering politics.
Guo said that she has Chinese friends she met through her hog-raising business, not POGO.
Hontiveros later said she believes that Guo lied to several questions, especially about the denial of her involvement with Hong Sheng.
"She lied. There were several questions where she lied. Yung pinaka stark and shocking example ay 'yung dineny niya na may connection siya sa Hong Sheng, eh nandun na nga sa mga dokumento ng municipal government na siya ngayon ang pinuno," the senator said during the presscon.
The committee seeks her SALN, SOCE
The senators also requested her statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) and the statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE) to be presented in the next hearing.
They also said they would invite citizens and council members from Bamban to learn more about the mayor's identity.
Hontiveros raised concerns if the likes of Guo, who almost does not have existing personal records in the Philippines, is a planted asset by China to infiltrate the Philippine government to have a "foothold" in the country's political and national security.
She also alleged that the mayor has become an “instrument” for the big POGO company to enter and operate in the country—which she said, as per intel, is involved in hacking and surveillance activities, especially to government websites.
Could Guo be questioned in court?
The committee questioned how Guo was able to fund her campaign as an independent candidate in the 2022 elections especially since her records are almost non-existent.
In her response, the mayor said, “Tinulungan din po ako ng mga kaibigan, tinulungan din po ako ng previous administration din po.”
Upon reviewing Guo's documents at the Commission's Clerk of Court following the hearing, COMELEC chairman George Garcia said no petition for disqualification or cancellation of candidacy was filed against the politician.
Garcia noted their "ministerial duty" to accept COCs once their forms have been accomplished. "Pagkatapos po noon, 'yun po ay sapat na sa amin," he explained, adding that they no longer require further evidence or documents afterwards as they will presume that their declaration is valid and correct.
According to Garcia, one needs to file the aforementioned petition to have a candidate disqualified or her candidacy cancelled. When such has been submitted, a court will take over the case.
"Halimbawa po, 'yung isang mayor ay nanalo. May issue pala sa kanya tungkol sa citizenship, hindi naman nakita ng kahit sino. 'Yan po ay puwede namang ma-kwestyon pagkatapos ng proklamasyon, kahit siya ay nanunungkulan na, sa pamamagitan ng Petition for Quo Warranto," he said, adding that it can be submitted in any regional trial court. "Pwede po (habulin) lalo na pag ang issue ay citizenship," he added.
