PSA recommends cancellation of Guo's 'fraudulently' acquired birth certificate

Mayor-elect Alice Leal Guo of Bamban, Tarlac. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo's identity is in "limbo" as the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recommended the cancellation of her birth certificate because it was "fraudulently" acquired.

Marizza Grande, Civil Registration Office assistant national statistician, said this on Wednesday at the resumption of the Senate inquiry on human trafficking in some Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in Tarlac.

Grande testified that the submission of the delayed registration of the birth of Guo and her sister, Shiela, on Nov. 22, 2005 was "irregular."

"We already endorsed to the Office of the Solicitor General for the cancellation of the copy [of Guo's certificate of live birth] because the PSA has no power to automatically cancel [birth certificate] when we see it went through an irregular process," she said in Filipino and English.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, committee chairman, asked Grande whether Guo obtained her birth certificate "fraudulently or irregularly" because it lacked supporting documents.

Grande said, "Yes."

Meanwhile, Sen. Lito Lapid denied any involvement in the operation of POGO in Porac, Pampanga. The senator said he would resign as senator if proven that he was part of POGO.

Lapid also denied the allegations of an unnamed vlogger that he owns the 10-hectare land where the POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga, was situated.

He said he was a vice-governor of Pampanga for three years, a three-term governor, and in his fourth term as senator if he wins in the senatorial elections in 2025. "I will not allow my name to be ruined here," Lapid said.