PAOCC probing Chinese nationals in local posts

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) has started its probe on reports that Chinese nationals other than dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo are occupying local elective posts.

- EMMANUEL TUPAS

PAOCC executive director Gilbert Cruz said yesterday they are receiving messages from concerned citizens about local elected officials who appear to be foreigners.

The PAOCC is taking extra precautions in its probe, Cruz said, as their investigation should not be solely based on officials’ nationality.

“We need to validate because we will be unfair if we say that because the official has a Chinese name, that’s the situation,” he said.

Sen. JV Ejercito raised the issue on Wednesday in a news forum, saying he has met local officials in the provinces who do not look and sound like members of the FilipinoChinese community.

He urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to be more watchful for candidates pretending to be Filipinos from running in next year’s elections.

Cruz said it is possible there are other officials like Guo in the country, noting a recent investigation that uncovered the issuance of thousands of birth certificates in Davao del Sur.

He said around 1,000 Chinese citizens acquired new identities through fraudulent birth certificates. “So over 1,000 are being probed just on birth certificates in one province,” Cruz said.

No more executive session with Guo