NATIONALIST People’s Coalition (NPC) chair Vicente Sotto III ordered the expulsion of Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo from the party following the filing of criminal charges against her.
Sotto III ordered Guo’s removal from the party after Tarlac Gov. Susan Yap sought her expulsion because of her alleged link to criminal activities of some illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
Also, the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission filed human trafficking charges against Guo.
Sotto said that the PNP linked Guo to the “grand conspiracy to commit labor trafficking of about 500 foreign POGO workers.”
Guo’s citizenship was also in question as some quarters suspected her of being a “spy” from China.
In her letter to Sotto dated June 17, Yap said, “The mystery of her citizenship, further, has clouded her qualification to be a member of our party.”
“As our Party stands to uphold honesty and integrity, and with Mayor Guo’s character and citizenship now being in question, with the sheer volume of evidence now being lodged against her, and absent any compelling evidence being presented in order to dispel these, I humbly pray that Mayor Guo be removed from the Party,” Yap said.
Sotto said the NPC “will not tolerate any unlawful acts or any appearance of impropriety by its members that will undermine the principle of our party.”
“After due consultation with the leaders and members of our party and considering the gravity of charges and on-going investigations against Mayor Guo, I hereby order the removal of Mayor Alice Guo from the roster of members of the Nationalist People’s Coalition,” he said.
