Alice Guo, the mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, has been under fire from two senators for allegedly lying about her mother’s nationality. It was discovered after an examination that Guo’s parents may be Chinese. Valenzuela City locals assert that Guo’s mother is a Chinese national by the name of “Lin Wen Yi.”
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said during a Kapihan sa Manila Bay event on Wednesday that “Lin Wen Yi” was introduced to Valenzuela City citizens as Guo’s mother, notwithstanding Mayor Guo’s evidence that her mother was a Filipino housekeeper. In the past, the Guo family had a company in Valenzuela City.
“Wen Yi was introduced as Guo’s mother to the locals, where she rented a warehouse. Based on my personal assessment, this might be Alice Guo’s biological mother,” Gatchalian stated in Filipino.
The documents that Senator Risa Hontiveros presented on Thursday showed that “Lin Wen Yi” shared the same address as Mayor Guo. Lin Wen Yi was identified as a co-incorporator in at least seven of Guo’s firms, along with her father Jian Zhong Guo, siblings Shiela L. and Siemen L. Guo, and Lin Wen Yi herself, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents.
Hontiveros underlined how crucial it is to locate Guo’s mother in order to ascertain whether Guo lied when testifying in front of the Senate. The Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, which is looking into the raid on the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in Tarlac because to allegations of human trafficking, is chaired by Hontiveros.
Senate investigators have been looking into Guo’s inconsistent assertions regarding her identity and her alleged connections to the POGO hub. She was described as Filipino by her father, who was actually a Chinese national, but there were anomalies in her birth certificate that were discovered during the Senate hearing.
“If her mother and father are both Chinese, it will prove that Mayor Alice is not Filipino. The bigger question then is: why did she feel the need to pretend? Why the secrecy and lies?” Hontiveros replied in Filipino.
Honorable Mendez charged Guo with making up details about her mother and other members of her family. Jian Zhong Guo and Lin Wen Yi traveled together at least 170 times over six years, according to travel documents the senator also mentioned.
“Are they all related? Is this one big, dubious family business? Travel records show that Jian Zhong Guo and Lin Wen Yi traveled together frequently. Are they just business partners or are they actually married?” Hontiveros replied.
Mayor Guo’s co-incorporators, who were allegedly her family members, had their dates of birth and addresses listed in a Bureau of Internal Revenue document that Hontiveros supplied. Given that Lin Wen Yi’s birth year was listed as 1971, Alice would have been only 15 years old when Lin Wen Yi gave birth to Alice and 13 years old when she gave birth to Sheila L. Guo, another daughter whom Alice has acknowledged as her sister.
Hontiveros also disclosed a source speculating that Mayor Guo’s mother goes by “Winnie,” a reference to a potential Filipinized form of Lin Wen Yi.
“Why the secrecy? Who is this family? Why are they surrounded by mystery? We will get to the bottom of this,” added the senator.
In order to look into additional sensitive information about Guo and the POGO center in Bamban, the Senate panel will convene an executive session during the sine die adjournment.
