Sen. Risa Hontiveros presents document showing another Alice Guo with same name and birthday
As the case of suspended Bamban mayor Alice Guo continues to puzzle lawmakers, Sen. Risa Hontiveros raised further questions on her identity as she found out that another woman with the same name and birthday as the politician exists.
During the Senate hearing on the raided POGO hub in Bamban to which Guo is being linked, Hontiveros presented a document she received from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that showed another woman bearing the name Alice Leal Guo, who was also born on July 12, 1986.
The lawmaker noted, "Same ang birthday sa birth certificate ni Alice Leal Guo na tumakbong mayor. Pareho ang spelling ng pangalan, pero ibang iba ang mukha."
"Is it a coincidence na may dalawang Alice Leal Guo na pinanganak on July 12, 1986, sa Tarlac? Is it a coincidence that this NBI clearance was applied for just a few days before the date of filing of the delayed registration of birth of the other Alice Leal Guo in Tarlac City? Or is this a case of stolen identity?" Hontiveros asked.
"Has Guo Hua Ping assumed the identity of a Filipino woman and then nearly a decade later, ran for public office? Sino po ang babaeng ito na may pangalang Alice Leal Guo pero hindi kamukha ni Mayor? Nasaan na po siya ngayon?" she continued. (Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian previously said Guo's real name might be Guo Hua Ping and she might have entered the Philippines in January 2003 when she was 13, citing papers he obtained earlier this month.)
Later in the discussion, Hontiveros asked NBI Central Luzon Regional Director Jerry Abiera if there was a chance that the two Alice Guos had their identities switched or if a glitch happened in the NBI's system.
While Abiera said that they couldn't determine why there are two Alice Guos in their records with similar identities, he explained the process of getting an NBI clearance that may have led to this predicament.
"Aapply ka ng clearance online tapos babayaran mo, magkakaroon ka ng schedule, pupunta ka sa office mismo para kuhanan ka ng picture atsaka biometrics. Ngayon dahil ['yung babaeng nasa document] ang nag-appear diyan, i-presume natin na siya mismo ang nagpunta sa office," Abiera said.
Despite having the same name and birth date, he pointed out that their fingerprint scans can be a way to determine if they are separate individuals.
Hontiveros requested the NBI to check the whereabouts of Guo in their records and find out whether she is still alive.
The Bamban mayor skipped the June 26 as she was "sick and stressed," according to her lawyer Stephen David. She also believes that she is "not fit to appear as one of the resource persons to the said inquiry."
Hontiveros ordered the issuance of subpoenas against Guo and her family members as she argued that she is fit to be their resource person.
"Unfortunately, the non-appearance of Mayor Alice Guo is a disregard of the invitation of the committee at kahit may ongoing process sa Office of the Ombudsman, sa BIR o sa PAOCC. Hindi 'yan dahilan na hindi siya nagpakita rito," she said.
Guo has been subject to scrutiny since she was allegedly linked to Hongsheng Gaming Technology Incorporated, which was raided in February 2023, and Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated, which was raided in March this year. In Senate hearings, she's being questioned why she was supposedly unaware of such alleged illegal activities, noting that she currently holds a high post in the local government.
Senators noted that according to Bamban residents, the mayor came out of nowhere during the 2022 elections. They speculated that Guo could be a Chinese spy infiltrating the Philippine government.
Guo has since maintained that she's Filipino and has denied having ties to POGOs in Bamban and being a Chinese spy. She also said that she was raised on the farm of her father, was homeschooled, and that her maid of a mother left her. But as weeks passed, authorities discovered discrepancies in several documents involving Guo, as well as holes in her stories.
She has since been removed from the Nationalist People's Coalition led by former Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, charged with alleged human trafficking and scams along with 13 others, and suspended from her position by the Office of the Ombudsman.