Mayor Alice Leal Guo is being investigated for her alleged ties with Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) companies in her town. But after failing to present personal records which could prove her citizenship, questions were raised on whether she might be a Chinese national or an “asset.”
UNKNOWN ORIGINS
Guo says that she was born in 1986, but her birth was registered 17 years later. When asked for the reason, she says that she does not have any idea.
There are no hospital records of her birth, and she says that she was born inside their home but could not recall its exact location.
Her parents were Amelia Leal, whom she did not grow up with, and Angelito Guo, a private businessman. In her birth certificate, his father’s nationality is Filipino, but in their business documents, his father’s nationality is Chinese. She later revealed that his father’s real name was Jian Zhong Guo and Angelito Guo is his Filipino name.
Guo also said that she grew up on a farm with his father, and her family has a hog-raising business.
QUESTIONABLE EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Guo says that she was homeschooled from elementary to high school, and she did not go to college. However, she could not present a diploma or completion certificates, and she also failed to identify her homeschool provider.
The mayor also says that she can only recall her teacher’s name, “Teacher Rubilyn” who only provides books and tutorials and does not give grades.
SECURING LOCAL POLITICAL FOOTHOLD
Guo became the first female mayor of Bamban, Tarlac after receiving 16,503 votes against Joey Salting Jr., who had 16,035.
She ran as an independent candidate in 2022. In terms of her main source of campaign funds, Guo says she has a hog farm with around 2,000 pigs and yields an annual profit of P4,000 per head.
Guo was introduced by former Mayor Jose Antonio “Jon” Feliciano as his ‘possible successor’ a year before the elections in 2022. During the inauguration of the government-owned triple A poultry dressing plant in Bamban last April 28, 2021, he described Guo as his friend and said that his townmates could “put their trust in the young businesswoman as the next mayor of Bamban.”
However, according to Senator Risa Hontiveros and her team’s research, residents say that almost everyone in Bamban knew each other but nobody knew Guo before she ran for mayor
ALLEGED POGO TIES
Guo was accused of having links with a POGO after a team led by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission raided Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated, which had facilities right behind the Bamban municipal hall.
The POGO compound was linked with alleged cases of human trafficking and serious illegal detention after a Vietnamese who escaped from the facility last February 28 filed a complaint. It is also being investigated for surveillance activities and hacking of government websites.
The documents obtained in the raid include a Sangguniang Bayan resolution dated September 2020, a list of the 38 vehicles found inside the premises with one Ford Expedition EL plate number which was owned by Guo, and a statement of account from Tarlac Electric Corporation II totaling to P15.11 million from September 2023 to February 2024 which was registered under Guo’s name.
She was also found to have 50% ownership of Baofu Corporation which owns the compound that houses the raided POGOs in 2023 and March 2024. Guo however, says that she used to own the land, but when she ran for mayor, she sold her shares.
Guo explains that the electric meter was registered under her name because she was the former landowner and insists that ‘maybe’ her name was not removed from the document. She also admitted that she used to own the vehicle found in the compound but noted that it was already sold in 2020 and is no longer in her possession.
The mayor further denied her ties with the POGOs and insisted that as incorporator, she only assisted them in securing a ‘letter of no objection’ from the previous administration.
