MANILA, Philippines – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian obtained documents bolstering allegations that Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac, may be Chinese and not Filipino.

Gatchalian on Tuesday, June 18, said the controversial mayor might be Guo Hua Ping, who entered the Philippines on January 12, 2003.

“Her real birth date is on August 31, 1990,” Gatchalian said, which would make the Chinese child 12 years old at the time of her arrival. In the mayor’s supposed birth certificate, her birthday is listed as July 12, 1986.

Gatchalian used as basis the documents provided by the Board of Investments from the Guo family’s application for a Special Investor’s Resident Visa (SIRV) and the Bureau of Immigration.

“Guo Hua Ping’s registered mother under the SIRV is Lin Wen Yi,” the senator said.

Gatchalian and fellow senator Risa Hontiveros had suspected that Lin was Guo’s biological mother. On June 5, the mayor denied this, only saying that Lin was her father’s romantic partner.

The Bamban mayor claims that she is Filipino, owing to her supposed Filipino mother, a certain Amelia Leal, as indicated in the Guo siblings’ birth records. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, however, Leal might not even exist as she does not have any birth, marriage, or death certificate.

The nationality of Guo’s mother is a crucial piece of her background because her Filipino citizenship hinges on her claim that her mother is Filipino. Article 4 of the Constitution states that “those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines” are considered Filipino citizens.

Asked about the possible legal implications of this new development, Gatchalian said it “bolsters the quo warranto case against her.”

Back in May, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said they had formed an investigating team “to determine if there is good reason to believe that [Guo] is unlawfully holding or exercising public office.”

Under Rule 66 of the Rules of Court, the solicitor general or a public prosecutor can initiate a quo warranto petition against public officials suspected of usurping their office, or those who are not qualified for office in the first place. A quo warranto petition can lead to officials’ removal, like the one used to oust former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Under Philippine law, elective officials must be Filipino citizens. – Rappler.com