A regional trial court in Manila has disqualified former Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, declaring she is not a Filipino citizen, but a Chinese national.
The ruling adds to the series of legal battles Guo faces, including a charge of qualified human trafficking.
According to a report by Philstar.com, Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 34 issued a 67-page decision on 27 June 2025, granting the quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).
The petition challenged Guo’s legal eligibility to hold public office on grounds of citizenship.
Court declares Guo not a natural-born Filipino
“Having established that Guo Hua Ping is undoubtedly a Chinese citizen, the Court concludes that respondent is not only disqualified to hold the position of Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, but also from running for the said position in the first place,” the ruling stated.
The court identified Guo as Guo Hua Ping, daughter of Chinese nationals Guo Jian Zhong and Lin Wenyi, both of whom possess Chinese passports.
It emphasised that Guo’s Philippine passport and her birth certificate could not conclusively establish her Filipino citizenship.
“Respondent Guo Hua Ping a.k.a. Alice Leal Guo is nothing more but a usurper of the Office of the Mayor of Bamban,” it continued.
“Her election victory and assumption of office do not cure her disqualification due to her lack of Philippine citizenship.”
The court ruled that her disqualification took effect from the moment she filed her certificate of candidacy.
Guo has been detained for nearly 10 months, facing a non-bailable charge of qualified human trafficking linked to alleged illegal operations of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in Bamban.
She has consistently claimed she only leased her property to the company.
In August 2024, the Office of the Ombudsman had also ordered her dismissal for grave misconduct.
Guo, along with Chinese nationals Zhang Ruijin and Lin Baoying, has been charged for human trafficking.
The trio allegedly forced hundreds of individuals into working for a scam centre in Bamban.
Authorities raided the site in March 2024, uncovering 432 Chinese nationals, 371 Filipinos, and others from Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Rwanda.
The scam operation was reportedly run on land owned by Baofu Land Development, a firm established in 2019 by Guo, Zhang, Lin, Cypriot national Huang Zhiyang, and Filipino national Rachel Joan Malonzo Carreon.
All five founders are among those facing qualified human trafficking charges, a non-bailable offence with potential life imprisonment.
Zhang and Lin were sentenced to 15 months in prison in Singapore for money laundering and forgery in a S$3 billion case.
No records of Filipino parents found, says court
The Manila RTC noted there were no birth, death, or marriage records of Guo’s purported Filipino parents, Angelito Guo and Amelia Leal.
Significant weight was given to the testimony of Alfredo Kahanding, chief of the Dactyloscopy Division of the National Bureau of Investigation.
Kahanding matched Guo’s fingerprints with those of Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese citizen who arrived in the Philippines in July 1999 at age nine.
At the time, she held an investor’s visa as a dependent of her parents, who were granted Special Investors Resident Visas.
Guo had earlier told the Senate that her mother was a full-blooded Filipina named Amelia Leal, whom she never met.
She said Amelia was a maid of her father Angelito Guo, and that she was their lovechild.
Her birth certificate states she was born on 12 July 1986 in Tarlac to Angelito and Amelia, who were allegedly married in 1952.
However, the certificate was only registered in 2005, when Guo was already 19 years old.
Kahanding confirmed through fingerprint analysis that Alice Guo and Guo Hua Ping are one and the same.
The court accepted his expert testimony, noting that fingerprint evidence is “infallible and faultless” and cannot be forged or duplicated.
Court says Guo assumed false identity to enter politics
“Alice Leal Guo has utterly failed to prove that she is a Filipino citizen,” the decision stated.
“It can, thus, be safely concluded that Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese national, assumed the identity of one Alice Leal Guo, representing herself as a Filipino citizen.”
The ruling underscored the threat such deception posed to public institutions and national security.
“Just imagine a foreign individual, who was allowed to stay in the Philippines, was able to circumvent the law by posing as a Filipino citizen,” it stated.
“Such a situation posed a risk to national security which is far more than real.”
The court added that the OSG, with support from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, was instrumental in presenting crucial evidence, including the fingerprint analysis by Kahanding.
ALARMING! Is the country infiltrated by Chinese Militias and Sleeper Agents?@senatePH @HouseofRepsPH
How did we end in this dangerous situation? pic.twitter.com/Elaxyeo8SW— Ricky S (@saudiboy2) May 11, 2024
Lawmakers call for broader accountability
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian welcomed the decision, saying it confirmed long-standing doubts about Guo’s eligibility.
“The court ruling affirming that Alice Guo is a Chinese national and finding her guilty of usurping and exercising the Office of the Bamban Mayor validates what we’ve long been saying,” Gatchalian said.
He called on authorities to pursue all criminal and administrative charges against Guo and others who facilitated her rise.
“She should also be prohibited from owning land,” he added.
“I urge the government to go after those who aided and protected her. Foreigners must never be allowed to use government for their own selfish interests.”
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