Suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ)
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has filed a petition to cancel the birth certificate of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said they sought to cancel Guo’s birth certificate “on the ground, among others, of failure to comply with the legal requirements for late registration.”
During a recent Senate hearing, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Guo’s late birth registration was applied on Nov. 22, 2005, when she was already a teenager.
Guevarra said Guo failed to submit the required supporting documents for late registration.
Under Memorandum Circular No. 2024-17, the mandatory documents to be submitted for late registration are the following: barangay certification as proof of residency; documentary evidence showing the identity of the parents, such as a certificate of live birth, government-issued ID, marriage certificate or certificate of death, and an unedited photo of the registrant.
A personal appearance is required if the applicant is also 18 years old and above.
In this case, however, only a negative certification issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO) was submitted, according to Guevarra. Angelito, the supposed father of Guo, also submitted the document for late registration instead of the suspended mayor, who was already 19 years old at that time.
Guevarra said the local civil registrar recorded her certificate of live birth (COLB) although it was incomplete and lacked the required documents.
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The OSG likewise noted that indicated as parents on Guo’s birth certificate were “Angelito Guo and Amelia Leal” and that both were “Filipinos.”
However, the PSA showed no record of her supposed parents.
“The pattern of falsehoods is not just present in Alice’s COLB, but in all four COLBs including those of Shiela, Seimen, and Wesley…These are not mere mistakes or errors in making the entries but are deliberate falsehoods which render all of the COLBs void,” the Solicitor General said, adding that they will also be seeking the cancellation of the birth certificates of Guo’s siblings.
Guevarra explained that the petition for the cancellation of Guo’s birth certificate “will lay the groundwork” for the subsequent filing of a petition for quo warranto.
If Guo’s birth certificate is canceled, Guevarra said, “she will lose her most important defense evidence about her identity.”
However, Guevarra pointed out that Guo’s birth certificate “is not a precondition for the filing of the quo warranto petition.”
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“The quo warranto petition can be supported by preponderant independent evidence. It’s not dependent on the outcome of the cancellation petition,” Guevarra said.
He added, “Her foreign citizenship will not be proved in the cancellation petition but in the quo warranto petition.”
Guo’s lawyers vowed to disprove allegations against the suspended mayor by providing “substantial evidence” to show that she is a Filipino.