Bamban, Tarlac City Mayor Alice Guo (left) and Comelec chairman George Garcia (right) during the resumption of a Senate panel’s probe into Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — The investigation on suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) may be concluded soon and out next week, poll body chief George Garcia said.
“Hopefully, sa isang linggo matatapos ‘yan, baka early next week lalabas na ‘yung [fingerprint] analysis,” Garcia told reporters in a chance interview Monday.
(Hopefully, that will be finished in a week, maybe early next week the [fingerprint] analysis will come out.)
Last week, Garcia ordered the creation of a fact-finding committee to probe into the candidacy of Guo in the 2022 national and local elections.
READ: Comelec chief wants fact-finding panel to probe Alice Guo’s 2022 candidacy
“Pero ang gusto natin hindi lang ‘yung analysis, makumpleto na ‘yung mismong fact-finding investigation kasi dalawang linggo lang naman ‘yung binigay natin para tapusin ang imbestigasyon,” he added.
(But what we want is not only the analysis but for the actual fact-finding investigation to be completed because we only gave two weeks to complete the investigation.)
According to Garcia, the Comelec already met with the Department of Justice and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to exchange information and build a case against Guo.
READ: Alice Guo may also face raps for election-related offenses – Comelec
Garcia previously said Guo may face an election offense for misrepresentation should enough evidence merit it.
The NBI has conducted fingerprints analysis and confirmed that Guo’s match those of Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese woman believed to be the mayor’s true identity who arrived in the Philippines in 2003.
The NBI’s findings presented conflict in some of Guo’s repeated claims, including that she was born in a farm in Tarlac province.