Other officials like Alice Guo? Some local execs of dubious origins, says Ejercito

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Other officials like Alice Guo? Some local execs of dubious origins, says Ejercito

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

 | 

Updated Oct 10, 2024 05:15 PM PHT

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Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito. Bibo Nueva España, Senate PRIB/File  Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito. Bibo Nueva España, Senate PRIB/File  


MANILA — Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito warned of some personalities in local government units who might not be Filipinos. 


This as he urged the Commission on Elections to screen all certificates of candidacy filed for the May 2025 election to make sure these are all filed by bona fide Filipino citizens and prevent more cases like those of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, who is fighting allegations that she is a Chinese spy. 



During the Kapihan sa Senado on Wednesday, Ejercito recalled meeting some local executives of supposedly dubious origins.


"May mga LGU, mga nasa konsehal na siguro iba, siguro ang mga mayor parang may mga na-meet na rin ako sa probinsiyang mukhang di lumaki rito… Dapat siguro bantayan ng Comelec this time so that we will prevent another Alice Guo being able to run again in our government," Ejercito said.


"Dapat siguro ang Comelec from the start dapat suriin na nila talaga, make sure na yung natural born or naturalized pero talagang Pilipino… We can introduce legislation on how we will be able to prevent other nationalities not only Chinese people from holding positions in government,” he added. 


Ejercito said Guo's case should be instructive for policy makers. Being a Filipino citizen is a requirement for public office in the Philippines. 


The National Bureau of Investigation had said Guo’s fingerprints matched that of Chinese national Guo Hua Ping. 


Ejercito said the late registration of births could be a loophole that needed to be plugged because this is used to certify Filipino citizenship.


"Siguro it's a wake up call for us that hindi natin pwedeng balewalain lang  yung sa Alice Guo POGO issue dapat wake up call na sa atin ito to be more strict with this kaya nga yung mga ano natin tulad nung nangyari doon yung mga late registration. Lahat yun we have to put a plug in these holes para di na tayo maulit and make sure that we are protected,” Ejercito said. 


“Buti sana kung normal situation but we are in a conflict with China. And ayaw naman natin mapasukan tayo dito,” he continued. 



VALIDATING COCs 


The Comelec on Thursday received 47,500 certificates of candidacy (COCs), certificates of nomination (CONAs) and certificates of acceptance of nomination (CON-CANs) from its local offices. 


The COCs were filed by congressional and local government aspirants. CONAs are party nominations or endorsements supporting certain aspirants’ COCs, while CON-CAN were filed by party-list and sectoral groups hoping to take part in next year’s elections.


“Aside from us serving as their permanent repository of their COCs, ay yung Law Department po magsisimula na pong isala ang lahat ng COCs per region... yung makakatanggap ng two more nominations mula sa dalawang duly-registered political parties, ay mababale-wala yung nomination na yan, magiging independent candidates siya,” Comelec spokesman Rex Laudiangco said.


“Lahat naman ng makikita namin na more than one yung kanilang nomination sa  single position, ibig sabihin nag-over nominate. Eh lahat po ng COCs na yan ay maba-balewala. Kung ikaw din naman ay isang tao na nakapag-file ng two or more COCs, lahat po yan ay makikita po naming, mababale-wala ka rin po namin,” he added.


Meanwhile, the tasks of the Comelec Law Department and Election Records and Statistics Department include cross-checking the Ombudsman’s list of political aspirants with perpetual disqualification from holding public office judgment, so they could implement the order.


“Pwede naman po silang umapela, humingi po ng reconsideration. Pero makikita nyo po kasi ang kagandahan dito lahat ay factual, lahat po ay evidentiary in nature,” Laudiangco said.


The evaluation process will only run until mid-November, in time for the needed preparations for the printing of the ballots which is scheduled to start on December 13, he said.


— With a report from Sherrie Ann Torres, ABS-CBN News







 



 



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