Comelec chairman George Garcia and Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo. ABS-CBN News/File 

MANILA — Suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo will be required to appear before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) once it files an election case against her, chairman George Garcia said Friday.

The Comelec is investigating Guo in relation to her 2021-2022 candidacy after details of her questionable identity and citizenship emerged.

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“Pag kasong kriminal kasi, affidavit po yung pina-file, counter-affidavit po, kung sakali man... Mukha naman pong hindi pupwedeng ang manunumpa sa isang tao ay yung abogado... Yung mismong inaakusahan ang kinakailangang manumpa,” Garcia said.

(When one answers an allegation, filing a counter-affidavit is a requirement, and the lawyer cannot do that because the accused has to swear to it. It should be the accused who should file and swear to the authenticity of the affidavit.)

Guo was last seen in public in May when she attended a Senate investigation on illegal POGOs. She snubbed the following Senate hearings, supposedly due to "stress and trauma.

The Senate has ordered her arrest.

Comelec is intending to visit the local registrar of Bamban, Tarlac, where Guo processed her certificate of candidacy (COC) in 2021. She won the election in May 2022.

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Garcia said the investigation would examine 2 sets of Guo's fingerprints in the Comelec database, which were obtained in the 2 previous elections.

Garcia is looking at releasing Comelec's report on Guo before the filing of COC on October 1 to 8. 

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