MANILA, Philippines — Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo is intending to get back to her old post in the 2025 midterm elections, her lawyer claimed in a TV interview on Thursday.
Guo’s decision came after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) earlier this week said it did not have the power to automatically cancel her certificate of candidacy.
“Of course, her love for Bamban, her love for her town… why not let the people decide if she wants to run? Anyway, if she does not want, she’s not winning,” Guo’s lawyer Stephen David said in Filipino.
The Ombudsman removed Guo from office, after cases of her involvement in illegal Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) in the Tarlac town. However, her camp is awaiting the decision if she will be perpetually disqualified from public office.
Meanwhile, Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Thursday called on the Comelec and the Filipino people to remain vigilant.
“I certainly hope that there will not be another ‘Alice Guo’ running for public office in 2025. This is a huge insult to our institutions that there’s a foreigner that became a mayor of a Philippine town,” she wrote on her social media post on Thursday. “This should not happen.” “Comelec and the public must remain vigilant. POGO syndicates are very much able and willing to fund political campaigns of individuals who can protect their interests,” she added.
Hontiveros also suggested to reviewing the country’s existing laws and regulations against candidates who lie about their lack of qualifications for public office.
“And for candidates who are faking their credentials: You will be caught. Do not aspire to be another Alice Guo. You will be held accountable by the law,” the senator said.
Guo has been detained at the Camp Crame national police headquarters in Quezon City following her arrest in Indonesia where she had sought refuge.
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