(UPDATES) DISMISSED mayor Alice Guo on Thursday filed her counter-affidavit to the case of material misrepresentation she is facing before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said Guo’s lawyer filed the counter-affidavit at 1 p.m. Thursday, the last day of a 10-day extended deadline granted by the poll body.
Garcia also denied allegations that Comelec was singling out Guo, saying that misrepresentation cases were also recommended against at least five former candidates.
Under the Omnibus Election Code, material misrepresentation is an offense punishable by a prison term of up to six years.
If the commission decides to charge Guo, the case would be filed before a Regional Trial Court in Bamban.
On August 6, the Comelec en banc unanimously adopted the recommendation of the legal department to file a formal complaint against Guo for misrepresenting her candidacy during the 2022 elections.
The commission based its decision on the findings of its investigating panel that the fingerprints on Guo’s certificate of candidacy and application for registration as a voter, among other documents, matched those of a certain Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese citizen.
Fingerprint experts from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Comelec concluded that Alice Guo and Guo Hua Ping were the same person.
Garcia said Guo is also liable for perjury because she lied under oath when she claimed that she was a Filipino citizen on her certificate of candidacy.
If Guo is found guilty and the sentence becomes final and executory, she would be perpetually disqualified from holding public office, he said.
He added there is no pardon if one is found guilty of election offense, and even a “presidential pardon could only be granted with the consent of the Comelec.”
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