Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo attends a flag-raising ceremony at the municipal hall on May 13, 2024. Courtesy: Mayor Alice Leal Guo/FB

Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo attends a flag-raising ceremony at the municipal hall on May 13, 2024.

Mayor Alice Guo

Arra Perez

ABS-CBN News

Sablan said she has been seeing the Guo family even before Alice became the mayor of nearby Bamban town.&quot;Natanong ko siya kung ilang taon na sya. Sagot niya sa&#39;kin, 14 years old pa lang siya. Pero ngayon nagtitinda na ako 22 years na dito... Kaya si Mayor Alice Guo na matagal na siya dito,&quot; she told ABS-CBN News.(I asked her how old she was. She told me she was only 14 years old. I have already been selling here for 22 years... That&#39;s why I can say Mayor Alice Guo has been here for a long time.)&ldquo;Mayroon ding kasama kaso halos iyong mga iyong kapatid niya, Papa niya, Mama niya. Kaya kilala ko iyong Mama niya at Papa niya... Dahil matagal ko nang kilala si Mayora, siyempre nalulungkot din mabait naman siya e,&quot; she added.(She also had companions, but they are mostly her siblings, his father, and his mother. That&#39;s why I know her mother and father... Because I have known the mayor for a long time, of course, I also feel sad; she is kind after all.)But during a Senate hearing last May 7 which delved into her background, the mayor had a different answer when asked about her mother.&quot;Hindi ko po nakasama po iyong nanay ko pong lumaki po,&quot; Guo said.(I did not grow up with my mother.)ABS-CBN News has been trying to speak with Guo for the past two days, but she has had no public appearance as of posting -- the last being with municipal employees at the weekly flag-raising ceremony last Monday.<a class="fr-strong fr-green" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/14/tarlac-mayor-alice-guo-s-coc-i-am-a-filipino-citizen-2034">Tarlac mayor Alice Guo&#39;s COC: &#39;I am a Filipino citizen&#39;</a>But for many Bamban residents, the mayor is someone they have known for a long time.Sixty-one-year-old Pachi Quizon, who hails from Bamban, said she has known Guo since the mayor was 10 years old.&quot;She may have been residing here for the past 20 years,&quot; Quizon shared in Kapampangan.&quot;She is a good mayor for the whole of Bamban. The town of Bamban is clean, and she takes care of the senior citizens. She helps those in need. It feels painful for us because things that shouldn&#39;t be questioned anymore are still being asked.&quot;Guo did not also attend the Barangayan in Barangay La Paz--an ongoing project of hers that provides free medical, dental, and documentation services, along with rabies vaccines for dogs and cats.<a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/10/-pogo-politics-suspected-china-ties-of-tarlac-town-mayor-alarms-solon-1016">&#39;POGO-politics&#39;: Suspected China ties of Tarlac town mayor alarms solon</a>VALID COC<img src="https://news-image-api.abs-cbn.com/Prod/editorImage/1715782310847436421950_463108136081395_6540664572837341148_n.jpg" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo attends a flag-raising ceremony at the municipal hall on May 13, 2024. Courtesy: Mayor Alice Leal Guo/FB">Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo attends a flag-raising ceremony at the municipal hall on May 13, 2024. Courtesy: Mayor Alice Leal Guo/FB The local office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Bamban, Tarlac said the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) Guo filed in 2021 was accepted after verifying that it passed the one-year residency requirement for mayoral candidates.&quot;Tinatanong namin sa kanila kung ilang years na silang nakatira dito, sinasagot naman nila at iyon iyong nilalagay nila doon sa application nila for registration,&quot; said Bamban election officer Edmund Salvador.&nbsp;(We ask them how many years they have been living here, and they answer us, and that is what they put on their application for registration.)&quot;Pasok siya... Kasi iyong ngang residency niya, iyong pagkaka-register lang niya na April 2021, kung bibilangin mo siya, mahigit isang taon na siya pagdating ng May 2022,&quot; he added.(She qualifies... Because if you count it her residency from her registration, she will have been here for over a year by May 2022.)<a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/14/alice-guo-nagparehistro-bilang-botante-noong-2021-comelec-1841">Alice Guo nagparehistro bilang botante noong 2021: Comelec</a>For Salvador, it is not unusual that Guo was a first-time voter when she registered to run in 2021, even when she declared that she had been a resident of Bamban for the previous 18 years.&quot;Maraming mga nagre-register dito na mas older pa sa kanya, as first time registrant talaga. Kasi iyong mga tao, may iba&#39;t ibang mga reasons nila kung bakit hindi sila nakakapag-register, although 18 years old dapat nakakapag-register na ang mga iyan,&quot; he said.(Many people who register here are even older than her, registering for the first time. People have different reasons why they haven&#39;t been able to register, although they should have been able to register at 18 years old.)<a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/15/ex-comelec-official-urges-voters-to-be-more-vigilant-amid-guo-controversy-1301">Ex-Comelec official urges voters to be &#39;more vigilant&#39; amid Guo controversy</a>On the issue of citizenship, the local Comelec office did not receive any complaints, which was why Guo&#39;s COC was deemed valid.&quot;Basta kasi kapag sinabi nila doon, under oath iyon e... Kung nagsisinungaling man sila o hindi, sila ng sasagot doon. Basta pinunan, Filipino citizen, yes, Filipino citizen. At iche-check nila doon sa application nila iyon na iyon... Walang nag-contest sa kanya,&quot; Salvador said.(They stated it under oath... Whether they are lying or not, they are accountable for it. As long as they fill it out, Filipino citizen, yes, Filipino citizen. And they will check that on their application... No one contested her.)&nbsp;No petitions to oppose Guo&#39;s voter registration in 2018 or to disqualify or cancel her candidacy for mayor also reached the Comelec, spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said Wednesday.<a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/15/comelec-says-no-petition-of-protest-or-quo-warranto-petition-filed-yet-against-bamban-mayor-1812">Comelec says no petition of protest or quo warranto petition vs Bamban mayor</a>An official from the Tarlac provincial government said Wednesday they are not familiar with Guo&#39;s background.&quot;Kami rin ho ay surprised. Continuing &lsquo;yung nalalaman namin, nakakabigla rin. Hindi rin namin alam kung bakit ganyan si Mayor Guo, &lsquo;yung mga personal background niya. Nabibigla rin kami... Minarapat ng provincial government to wait for the Senate investigation,&quot; Arvin Cabalu, Tarlac&#39;s Provincial Information Officer, told TeleRadyo Serbisyo.(We were also surprised. Based on what we know so far, it&rsquo;s also shocking. We also don&rsquo;t know why Mayor Guo is like that, given her personal background. We&rsquo;re also shocked... The provincial government decided it was best to wait for the Senate investigation.)&nbsp;The province also admitted they did not know that the compound raided in Bamban was being used for illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO).<a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/regions/2024/5/14/tarlac-gov-t-had-no-idea-about-pogo-in-bamban-official-1912">Tarlac gov&rsquo;t had no idea about POGO in Bamban: official</a>At the municipal hall of Bamban, Tarlac, operations remain normal, as life goes on for residents, who are still unused to the attention their town--and mayor--has been getting in recent weeks.RELATED VIDEO:<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nLd-5PGrcEc?&wmode=opaque&rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe>

But for many Bamban residents, Mayor Alice Guo is someone they have known for a long time.

But for many Bamban residents, Mayor Alice Guo is someone they have known for a long time.

For acquaintances, Mayor Alice Guo a 'good person', 'long-time resident' | ABS-CBN News

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For acquaintances, Mayor Alice Guo a 'good person', 'long-time resident'

For acquaintances, Mayor Alice Guo a 'good person', 'long-time resident'