FACT CHECK: No Marcos order banishing Bamban Mayor Alice Guo from PH

Claim: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has issued an order expelling embattled Bamban Mayor Alice Guo from the Philippines.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube video bearing the claim was posted on Tuesday, May 26, and has over 44,252 views as of writing. 

What the video says: The claim was made in the video’s title which reads, “Kakapasok lang grabe ang utos! PBBM nagwala Mayor Alice Guo Pinalayas sa Pinas Huli Spy ng China?” (Just in! PBBM went ballistic and banished Mayor Alice Guo from the Philippines because she is a Chinese spy?)

Marcos nowhere in video: The 28-minute video did not provide any proof that Marcos supposedly ordered Guo, who is suspected of being a Chinese asset, to leave the Philippines.

The President is not mentioned at all in the misleading YouTube video, which featured clips of Senator Loren Legarda telling Guo during a Senate hearing: “If you are really Chinese and fronting for other people, go back to your country.” The video paraphrased and translated Legarda’s statement into Filipino.

After showing clips from the Senate hearing where Legarda grilled Guo, the video showed a clip of former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque defending the Bamban mayor. Roque originally uploaded the video on his YouTube channel on May 21, 2024.

Marcos reacts to Guo: Although there are no orders from Marcos banishing Guo, he echoed questions about Guo’s citizenship in an ambush interview in Cagayan de Oro City on Thursday, May 16.

“Kilala ko lahat ng mga tiga-Tarlac na politiko, walang may kilala sa kanya. Kaya nagtataka kami kung saan nanggaling ito…. Hindi namin malaman,” Marcos said.

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(I know all the politicians in Tarlac, and none of them know her. So we’re puzzled – where did she come from? We’re unable to determine this.)

In response, Guo showed photos of her and Marcos taken during the 2022 election campaign in a now deleted post on Facebook. The President, however, said the photos “prove nothing,” adding that he doesn’t decline requests for selfies.

Preventive suspension: The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has recommended the preventive suspension of Guo amid its ongoing probe into the mayor’s alleged links to illegal Philippines offshore and gaming operations (POGO) in Bamban town. The Office of the Solicitor General has also launched a probe into Guo.

Aside from her alleged POGO links, the Bamban mayor is currently facing mounting controversy over irregularities in her birth records, prompting accusations that she is a spy for China. (READ: 5 things that don’t add up in Mayor Alice Guo’s Senate testimony) – Lorenz Pasion/Rappler.com

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