Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. (Dexter Barro II/MANILA BULLETIN)

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. said marriages solemnized by dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo will remain valid as long as it was performed under “good faith”.

Abalos gave this clarification in an ambush interview on Tuesday, Sept. 17, following concerns regarding the status of Guo’s Filipino citizenship.

During the plenary debate on the proposed 2025 budget of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), 4Ps Party-list Rep. JC Abalos asked what will happen to marriages conducted by the former mayor if it was to be proven that she wasn't a Filipino.

The lawmaker noted that a person who does not have the authority to solemnize can't make a marriage official. 

In response, the DILG chief said the marriages shall remain legitimate based on Chapter 3, Article 35, Paragraph 2 of the Philippines’ Family Code.

This law states that marriages shall be void from the beginning if it was solemnized by any person not legally authorized to perform marriages “unless such marriages were contracted with either or both parties believing in good faith that the solemnizing officer had the legal authority to do so".

Abalos pointed out that since couples believed Guo's authority to solemnize their marriage—given that she was mayor at that time—then it was done in “good faith”.

“Karamihan sa kanila gano’n ang tingin dahil mayor nga naman siya (Most of them think so because she was the mayor,)” he noted.

In order to get ahead on the outcome of Guo’s citizenship status, Abalos is urging the local government of Bamban to compile the list of couples wedded by the former mayor.

“As early as now kunin na ‘yung mga listahan so whatever it is sa future na mangyayari mapaghandaan na kaagad kung anong aksyon ang pwedeng i-take otherwise it will be unfair to those na talagang kinasal ng tama,” he stressed.

(As early as now, compile the list so that whatever happens in the future, we can prepare immediately what action can be taken otherwise it will be unfair to those who were rightfully married.)

He viewed as a “silver lining” the fact that Guo was only a one-term mayor. As such, it's likely that she has solemnized just a few marriages. 

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National Statistician Dennis Mapa on Monday said the PSA was looking into the number of marriages acted upon by Guo.

Guo was dismissed last August by the Office of the Ombudsman for grave misconduct because of her involvement in illegal Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) under her locality.

Guo’s citizenship is under question. This, after findings in recent Senate hearings bared that Guo’s real name was Guo Hua Ping, and that she was a Chinese national.