EXPLAINER | Was Alice allowed to go?

In a matter of few months, the real identity of Guo Hua Ping, or suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, sparked confusion regarding her birth certificate, citizenship, and passport.

Not long ago, Guo left the country for Malaysia on July 18, Singapore on July 21, and Indonesia on August 18. According to the requirements of these countries, visas are not needed to enter and only a passport is required. She was able to escape despite all of these, but now she was called back to the Philippines.

Her ongoing legal cases and guilty charges could be complicated as some complaints call for Guo to be deported, while others prescribe that she stay in the Philippines and serve her sentence in the country.

Until more information on all of her cases is obtained, it is unknown what the implications are for her and whether she needs to stay or go. 

An arrest warrant has already been issued by the Senate against Guo due to refusal hearings and ongoing cases involving allegations of connections to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) crimes on July 11. 

On June 21, a non-bailable qualified trafficking charge against Guo has already been filed by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), and the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

Guo along with the other individuals named to be involved would face life imprisonment and fines of around P2 million to P5 million if convicted. 

Guo’s birth certificate was applied for late when she was already a teenager on Nov. 22, 2005. Because of the false information regarding her birthplace and citizenship, her registration was flagged as “irregular.” 

Her birth registration was also marked as “fraudulent” due to a lack of supporting documents as stated by Sen. Risa Hontiveros. She stressed how “This has heavy implications on the person involved.”

A petition was filed to cancel her certificate of live birth, and if permitted, she will be stripped of her Filipino citizenship. Aside from Guo (PSA) Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande disclosed that a petition for a cancellation of the birth certificate of Guo’s siblings, Sheila, Seimen and Wesley, has been petitioned. 

On June 26, Grande explained that the PSA cannot automatically cancel her birth registration as it was marked as an irregular process saying that “We had already endorsed to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) for the cancellation of (Guo’s) COLB. The PSA has no power to automatically cancel if there was an irregular process in the registration.”

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian asserted that Guo must be deported as she was found to be a native Chinese citizen and lied by pretending that she was born Filipino. 

He stated “Yes (Guo must be deported). She’s not Filipino. If you’re not Filipino, you need a Philippine visa to stay in our country. But since her SIRV was canceled in 2011, she no longer holds any visa to stay in the country… Her passport should be revoked as well because her birth certificate is fake.” 

However, Grande clarified that if her certificate of live birth is officially canceled, Guo’s identity will be floating.

Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval supported this by saying that “if she is found to be a foreigner who stayed in the country through illegal means, then this could lead to deportation.”

Under the Republic Act 8247 or The Alien Social Integration Act Of 1995, aliens illegally in the Philippines before June 30, 1992, can now get legal residency by following the Act's rules. They won’t be charged with crimes like not having proper travel documents. However, refugees in the Philippines are not eligible.

Yet, as asserted by Gatchalian, Guo entered the Philippines on January 12, 2003, citing documents provided by the Board of Investments from the Guo family’s application for a Special Investor’s Resident Visa (SIRV) and the Bureau of Immigration as his basis. 

Contrary to her denial of holding a Chinese passport, it was soon found that Guo had a Chinese passport under the name Guo Hua Ping which stated that she is a Fujian-born Chinese citizen. Also, Guo’s Special Investor’s Resident Visa was canceled in 2011, which meant that she did not have a visa to remain in the Philippines. 

She was found to also hold a Filipino passport that Gatchilian declared should be revoked along with her birth certificate because “Her father supplied fake information; therefore, the basis to issue the passport has disappeared,” he asserted. 

For Chinese citizens, they are required to have an embassy visa when visiting the Philippines. This year, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced additional requirements for Chinese citizens applying for a temporary visitor's visa by requiring submission of their Chinese Social Insurance Record Certificates.

Gatchilian mentioned that this meant that she used the two passports to travel in and out of the country. 

An immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) was filed by the DOJ against Guo on June 21 as they “may attempt to place themselves beyond the reach of legal processes by fleeing the country,” as mentioned by the DOJ. 

However, the powers of this order are limited to monitoring the entrance and exit of Guo of the country, but cannot prevent them from leaving. 

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) stated that it was unaware of Guo’s departure and asserted that her departure was made through illegal means. 

Recent reports also claim that she is trying to enter the "Golden Triangle," a crime-infested area in mainland Southeast Asia, located between the borders of Mekong River countries Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia which are controlled by syndicates, as asserted by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).

DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Ty clarified that Guo has to remain in the Philippines for her trial because she was charged in court. If convicted, Hontiveros clarified that Guo is also mandated to serve her sentence in the country. 

Currently, with ongoing investigations and a nonbailable qualified trafficking charge against her, she is not allowed to exit the country to avoid these charges. 

“Kahit magkaroon ng penalty of deportation sa kanya, kapag na-convict siya in any of those cases, she will first have to serve her sentence here in the Philippines,” she explained.