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Dismissed mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, Alice Guo attends a Senate hearing, Sept. 9, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

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Guo Returns

Jamaine Punzalan

Rowegie Abanto

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/172825978898820240909-senate-hearing-alice-guo-MD18.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span id="isPasted" style="white-space:pre-wrap">Dismissed mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, Alice Guo attends a Senate hearing, Sept. 9, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">MANILA — The Commission on Elections said Monday it could block Alice Guo from running again for mayor of Bamban, Tarlac. </span><br/><br/><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Guo, who is detained over charges related to illegal gambling hubs, will file her certificate of candidacy (COC) this week through a representative, her lawyer Stephen David earlier said.</span><br/><br/><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">While the poll body has a “ministerial duty” to accept Guo’s COC, it can disqualify candidates who were previously dismissed from duty by the Office of the Ombudsman, Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said. </span><br/><br/><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Ombudsman in August d</span><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/13/ombudsman-orders-dismissal-of-bamban-mayor-alice-guo-1535"></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/13/ombudsman-orders-dismissal-of-bamban-mayor-alice-guo-1535">ismissed Guo for grave misconduct</a></span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> and banned her reentering government service. </span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span></div><div><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Pagkatapos mai-file [ang kaniyang COC] saka namin pwedeng i-cancel, pwede siyang i-disqualify base sa mga umiiral na mga patakaran o yun mga kinakaharap niyang problema,” Garcia told TeleRadyo Serbisyo. </span><br/><br/><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Mayroon kaming inilabas na resolution dalawang linggo na ang nakakalipas, sinabi namin sa resolution na ‘yan ang mga opisyal ng pamahalaan na dinismiss, tinanggal sa pwesto at may nakalagay na perpetually disqualified to hold public office ay amin kaagad tatanggalin kapag nag-file ng certificates of candidacy,” he added. </span><br/><br/><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/10/4/comelec-to-rule-on-alice-guo-s-case-before-oct-30-2138">Comelec to rule on Alice Guo&#x27;s case before Oct. 30</a></span></div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABNxS6bAqjsw7S2u&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Even if a candidate appeals the disqualification, it could be implemented immediately without a temporary restraining order from a court, Garcia noted. </span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Iyan ay bilang pagkilala sa kapangyarihan ng Ombudsman, sa kanilang tungkulin. Nasa batas po kasi yan: …ang desisyon ng Ombudsman ay immediately executory at final,” he said. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/10/5/only-court-can-stop-guo-from-running-for-bamban-mayor-again-lawyer-959">Only court can stop Guo from running for Bamban mayor again — lawyer</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;PEOPLE DECIDE THEIR POLITICAL FATE&#x27;</strong></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">Meanwhile, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal argued that the poll body&#x27;s power to cancel a COC is &quot;limited to final conviction in criminal cases with the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification and was never applied to administrative cases decided by the Ombudsman while pending appeal.&quot;</p><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><p>&quot;While decisions of the Ombudsman may be executory, the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification is not yet final when the dismissed public official appeals the Ombudsman decision to the Court of Appeals,&quot; he said.<br/><br/>&quot;In other words, pending appeal, the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification is not yet imposable and could not yet be enforced.&quot;<br/><br/>Guo&#x27;s lawyer Stephen David on Saturday said his client can still run for reelection unless a court says otherwise.<br/><br/>Macalintal  pointed out that no provision under the Omnibus Election Code or the Local Government Code provides that a candidate penalized by an administrative case is automatically disqualified from running for public office pending an appeal of the said decision.<br/><br/>Macalintal cited Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, who, without seeking to reward corrupt public officials, said &quot;they are still subject to competitive and recurring democratic elections wherein the people decide their political fate.&quot;</p><p>&quot;In cases where the sovereignty of the people is at stake, we must not only be legally right but also politically correct,&quot;  former Chief Justice Reynato Puno said, Macalintal added.<br/><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Comelec aims to finalize the list of candidates around December 13 and start printing ballots before the end of the year, Garcia said.     </span><br/><br/><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Guo is facing charges for graft, </span> <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/9/27/alice-guo-faces-arraignment-for-human-trafficking-charges-913"></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/9/27/alice-guo-faces-arraignment-for-human-trafficking-charges-913">qualified human trafficking</a></span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, and tax evasion.</span><br/><br/><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In a Senate hearing in late September, Guo said that despite being portrayed as one of the alleged big bosses of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, she was a “</span> <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/9/24/-isa-po-akong-victim-alice-guo-says-as-she-vows-to-tell-all-in-executive-session-1551"></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/9/24/-isa-po-akong-victim-alice-guo-says-as-she-vows-to-tell-all-in-executive-session-1551">victim</a></span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">.” </span><br/><br/><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;Di po ako mastermind. Masasabi ko po isa po akong victim... I think sa tagal po ng investigation, alam na rin po ng committee...who is really at the back of everything,&quot; Guo told the Senate Committee on Women.</span></p><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0UAgnRGnQa8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>The Commission on Elections said Monday it could block Alice Guo from running again for mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.</p>

The Commission on Elections said Monday it could block Alice Guo from running again for mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.

Alice Guo may be disqualified from Bamban mayoral race: Comelec

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Alice Guo may be disqualified from Bamban mayoral race: Comelec

Jamaine Punzalan,

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 07, 2024 08:34 AM PHT

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Updated Oct 07, 2024 10:47 AM PHT

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