The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has welcomed the recent Manila regional trial court (RTC) decision that nullified the 2022 proclamation of Alice L. Guo as mayor of Bamban town in Tarlac.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony M. Viado said that even before the court decision, the BI had initiated deportation proceedings against Guo for being a Chinese national.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had earlier confirmed that Guo is one and the same person as Chinese national Guo Huang Ping based on their fingerprints analysis.
In its decision, the Manila RTC declared: “Alice Leal Guo is nothing more but a usurper of the Office of the Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac. It follows, therefore, that her proclamation was deemed void.”
Viado said the RTC decision is a major win for the national government as Guo’s case revealed how a foreign national was able to penetrate public office using false documents and a fabricated identity.
He also said that Guo’s case “highlights the dangers of foreign infiltration and how it can threaten national security from within.”
He reminded that it is the duty of the BI to detect, deter, and remove foreign nationals who misrepresent themselves to gain access to positions of power in the Philippines.
“We remain vigilant against all forms of identity fraud and foreign interference,” he assured.
Due to non-bailable qualified human trafficking charges filed against her, on top of other criminal cases pending in courts, Guo has been detained at the Pasig City jail.