Third 'Alice Guo' filed for NBI clearance

Another “Alice Guo” applied for a clearance with the National Bureau of Investigation in 2005, but her fingerprints did not match those of the suspended Bamban, Tarlac mayor who went by the same name but who turned out to be a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping, NBI Director Jaime Santiago said yesterday.

- MARK ERNEST VILLEZA and MAYEN JAYMALIN

He revealed the development at a press briefing at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) central office in Manila, days after confirming that the fingerprints of Guo Hua Ping and Alice Leal Guo are identical.

Santiago said the NBI is ready to assist the Comelec and the Senate in whatever steps they would take regarding the case of the suspended Bamban town mayor.

The Office of the Solicitor General is preparing a quo warranto case against Guo to strip her of her mayoral post and pave the way for the filing of other cases.

Santiago emphasized the reliability of dactyloscopy (fingerprint analysis) and reiterated that the NBI’s findings confirmed that Guo Hua Ping and Alice Leal Guo are one and the same person.

At a separate press briefing at NBI headquarters, Santiago expressed belief that the woman in the NBI clearance supposedly issued to Guo was instructed to apply for the document using Guo’s name to confuse the authorities.