Alice Guo, family may ‘revert’ to Chinese ‘identity’ – PSA

Bamban Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo appears before the Senate as Sen. Risa Hontiveros flagged Guo’s alleged ties to Chinese “criminals” during Wednesday’s continuation of the Senate probe into the mayor’s links to POGO hubs in the latter’s area. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — Should their birth certificates get canceled, suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo and her immediate relatives may “revert” to their suspected original “identity” if there is proof that they are from China, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday.

Eliezer Ambatali, one of the directors of the PSA’s legal service, clarified this after the agency recommended canceling Guo’s birth certificate due to discrepancies.

The details on Guo’s three siblings’ birth certificates also differ, but the PSA has only officially recommended the cancellation of the mayor’s birth certificate so far.

READ: PSA endorses to SolGen the cancellation of Guo’s birth certificate

“Hindi natin alam kung sila ay may dokumentasyon na sila ay Chinese. Kung sila ay may pinanghahawakan na Chinese (documentation) magre-revert ang kanilang identity sa kanilang Chinese identity,” Ambatali said in a radio dwPM interview.

(We still do not know if they have documentation that they are Chinese. But if they hold Chinese documentation, their identity will be reverted to Chinese.)

If there is no proof that they are from China and their birth certificates get canceled, Ambatali said Guo and her relatives’ citizenship will be deemed as “floating.”

READ: Hontiveros: Is ‘Alice Leal Guo’ a stolen identity?

According to Ambatali, one irregularity found on Guo’s and her three siblings’ birth certificates is the date of their parents’ marriage.

“Doon sa apat na mga magkakapatid, ang mga magulang na nakasaad dito ay pare-pareho. Ngunit ang (date ng) kasal na sinasabi sa mga birth certificates na ito, ay iba-iba,” Ambatali said.

(As for the four siblings, the parents are the same. But the dates of the parents’ marriages in birth certificates are different.)

Senator Risa Hontiveros also revealed on Wednesday that a different individual named Alice Leal Guo already exists in the database of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Guo has been the subject of scrutiny after the Senate panel on women bared her alleged ties to Zun Yuan Technology, a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogo) hub in Bamban that authorities raided in March.