I Went to Bamban, Tarlac and Asked the People There About Their Mayor

“Okay naman kami dito,” *Kuya Erning, a tricycle driver, says. (That’s obviously not his real name). “Tahimik naman dito sa Bamban.” 

Unless you’ve just woken up from a months-long coma, the goings-on involving Bamban, Tarlac and its mayor, Alice Guo, must have taken up a fair bit of your time in the news and social media. The senate hearings, especially, led by Committee on Women and Children chairperson Senator Risa Hontiveros, has captured national interest after Mayor Guo herself appeared to defend herself against accusations that she is behind the illegal operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in her city. The even more explosive claim is that she is not actually Filipino.

Bamban is located in Southern Tarlac, on the border with Pampanga

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Ready, Set, Guo

Now, all eyes are on Guo and on Bamban. While Guo has been all over the news, few have been to her so-called hometown and can only speculate what it’s really like in the city where a POGO operation was discovered and raided earlier this year and where over 160 Chinese nationals working in POGO hubs were arrested and deported. 

Approaching Bamban Bridge

And so, on a whim, I decided to make the two-hour drive to Bamban from Manila to find out what the town is like. It’s a scorching 38 degrees on a Friday afternoon when I pass a police checkpoint along MacArthur Highway just after exiting SCTEX. One of the officers flag me down, and instantly I feel nervous. I’m not sure why; it’s not like I’m doing anything wrong. 

The policeman asks me to roll down my car window so he can peer inside, then quickly waves me through. 

“Salamat po,” he says politely.

“Salamat din,” I reply.

There are buildings behind the municipal hotel where the POGO hubs were reportedly discovered

Because it’s so hot, I stop to get ice cream outside a small store near the town’s Santo Niño Church. The shopkeeper says she isn’t originally from Bamban, but her assistant is, and so I ask if he voted for Guo. Her boss answers for him and says he did, in fact, cast a vote for the beleaguered mayor. “Why?” I inquire.

“Bagong Bamban,” the assistant says. “Yun po ang slogan niya. May pagbabago raw.”

It’s while I’m outside eating my ice cream that I chat with Mang Erning the tricycle driver. 

“Hindi ako nakaboto dito nung huling eleksyon,” Mang Erning says when I ask why he thinks the person who nobody had even heard of before the elections actually won. “Pero marami akong kakilala siya ang binoto.

“Marami daw siyang ipinangako,” he adds. “Pero, sa tingin ko hindi siya talaga dito. Matagal na ‘kong nakatira dito sa Bamban and kahit kailan hindi ko pa narinig yung pangalan niya o maski yung apelyido nya.”

Signs of support for Mayor Alice Guo along the road in Bamban

From unknown to headline-grabber

According to election records, seven people ran for mayor in Bamban, a second-class municipality on the Tarlac side of the border with Pampanga with a population of around 80,000 based on the 2020 census. Of the seven candidates, three are from established political parties (Nationalist People’s Coalition, Aksyon Demokratiko, PDP-Laban) and four were independent candidates.

In a town with just over 45,000 registered voters, Alice Guo, an independent, beat her closest rival, Joey Salting Jr., by just 468 votes—16,503 versus 16,035 votes. The woman who nobody seemed to have heard of before the elections triumphed to become the next mayor of Bamban.

A sign hangs on the fence of a private home

Since Guo’s appearance at the senate, her popularity has only skyrocketed, but perhaps, not in the way she had intended, or even preferred. Now her mug and her soundbites are the stuff of caricatures and memes. And whether she is telling the truth or not about her alleged ties to POGOs and the Chinese Communist Party, one unmistakable fact is that she is certainly not unknown anymore.

This was certainly evident during my visit to her constituency. Bamban isn’t unlike every other small provincial town in this part of Central Luzon, but what immediately catches my attention are the numerous signs plastered all around the side of the roads expressing support for their mayor. In fact, this is likely the first thing any visitor to the city will notice if they happen to find themselves there now. A few choice signs: “We (heart) you Mayora AG,” “Laban para sa Bayan,” “Laban Lang Kasanga (sic) mo kami Mayora,” “Mayora, hindi ka nag-iisa.” 

A sign hanging just outside one wall of the gym/multi-purpose hall of Barangay San Nicolas went slightly above and beyond: “MAYOR ALICE LEAL GUO: FILIPINO KA MAN O CHINIS (sic) PARA SA AKIN WALANG PROBLEMA GUSTO MO LANG NAMAN MAGLINKOD TUMULONG SA LUGAR NANG BAMBAN MAYOR ALICE LEAL GUO ISA PO AKONG NAKASUPORTA SAIYO KAHIT TANUNGIN AKO NANG PERSONAL IPAGLALABAN KITA.”

More signs of support for the mayor hanging outside the gym of a barangay in Bamban

For lunch I stop by a mid-sized restaurant located by itself in a slightly out of the way road. The owner, *Roy, admits not being originally from Bamban but says his wife is a local and that they have lived in the town for years.

Kamusta si mayor ninyo, I ask him.

“Di sya talaga taga-rito,” he answers. “Tingin ko lang naman yun.”

So how did she win, I press. 

“Malakas ang backer,” he answers. “Maraming pera ‘yan nung eleksyon, pero di rin namin alam sino and saan galing.” 

Showing their love for the "best mayor"

Supported by her constituents?

According to a Vera Files report, Guo’s declared campaign expenses that her camp submitted to the Commission on Elections was P134,693.80, for travel, incidental expenses, and printed materials. But the article’s author is skeptical that what she declared is accurate and factual, especially since he calls the Statement of Contributions and Expenditures “one of the fakest documents ever.” 

For her part, Mayor Guo testified during the senate hearings that funds for her campaign came from “friends in the hog-raising industry and from the previous administration.” Former Bamban mayor Jose Antonio Feliciano endorsed her candidacy.

Sto. Niño Parish in Bamban

I ask Roy if the mayor really enjoys strong support from the townsfolk, judging by all the signs hanging along the road and on the gates of the private homes of residents.

“Oo, marami rin kasi siyang nagawa,” he says. “Dahil sa kanya naging highly commercialized ang Bamban. Marami ring nagsulputang negosyo lalo na diyan malapit sa munisipyo.” 

A statue of Dr. Jose Rizal stands outside the city library

It’s true. Along Macarthur Highway that cuts across the town, there are numerous commercial establishments, including a Jollibee and a McDonald’s not far from each other. There’s a 7-Eleven, a Baliwag Lechon Manok place, stores selling construction materials, cafes and restaurants, beauty salons, and a modern-looking bridge. The Municipal Hall located inside a compound is a low-rise building painted red, white and pink, with a sign proclaiming “Asenso Garantisado” (Progress Guaranteed). Reports say the buildings behind the municipal hall is where the POGO hubs operated before they were raided.

In fact, Roy says the city got its two giant fast-food chains along the highway during the term of Mayor Guo: Jollibee opened on February 2023, while McDonald’s followed a few months later in September 2023. One can never underestimate how much local officials can endear themselves to their constituents when familiar brands—especially well-loved fast-food chains—first become available in a relatively small town.

Love for AG

Mang Ernie, the tricycle driver, also says he heard that the mayor hands out birthday cakes to senior citizens, although he personally doesn’t know anyone who has received one.

I drive around the city some more and see the public market, the city library with a statue of Jose Rizal in front of it, a charming garden café, and residential areas with simple bungalows along narrow dirt roads. I also drive past sprawling compounds behind high walls topped with barbed wire or cut glass. It’s tough to say what goes on inside the buildings in these compounds, but my imagination runs wild considering everything going on in the city right now.

When I stop one final time to buy water from a roadside eatery, I ask the lady about the mayor and she shrugs and says, “Hindi po ako taga-dito e.” But she gives me a knowing look.

As I drive off and head north toward La Union, I spare a thought for the embattled mayor. The hearings continue, with newly minted Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero saying they will go on until Senator Hontiveros has all the information she needs. Meanwhile, her town is chugging along, with its residents continuing to go about their day the best way they know how. Mang Erning was right: the people of Bamban seem to be doing okay.

Then again, how much can you really tell about a city by spending just a few hours there?

*names have been changed