MANILA: Former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo cannot seek reelection in the 2025 midterm elections if she fails to secure a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Court of Appeals (CA), stopping the implementation of the dismissal order against her by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson George Erwin Garcia said the Ombudsman’s decision in administrative cases is immediately executory.
‘Although not yet final, but it is already executory unless there is a restraining order from the Court of Appeals. Kapag perpetually disqualified to hold public office, ito ay i-implement ng Comelec. Ibig sabihin, makakapag-file sila ng certificate of candidacy pero amin siyang administratively kina-cancel (If she is perpetually disqualified to hold public office, it would be implemented by the Comelec. It means she can file her certificate of candidacy but we would administratively cancel it),” Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said in Wednesday’s Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
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n an Aug. 12 order, the Ombudsman dismissed Guo from the service for grave misconduct and perpetually banned her from holding public office.
This was in connection with the charges filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) against Guo for her alleged involvement in the operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).
Garcia said the Comelec will still pursue its material misrepresentation complaint against Guo, noting that the Ombudsman’s decision is an entirely different matter.
“The Office of the Ombudsman’s case is for misconduct as an election official of a town. It means as an elected official, she committed misdemeanor, malfeasance, or misconduct, and therefore, she can be charged before the Ombudsman. Now, our issue is whether she lied in her certificate of candidacy. Is her birth certificate legitimate and is she eligible to be elected as mayor? Those two things are different,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Comelec representatives visited Bamban town to serve a subpo
ena against Guo in connection with the case filed against her for alleged material misrepresentation when she ran in the May 2022 polls.
Guo has 10 days to file her counter affidavit.
The Comelec said the case would be submitted for resolution once Guo fails to file her counter affidavit within the prescribed period.
Source: Philippines News Agency