Richard Gomez faced this challenge in his political career
Reelectionist Leyte (4th District) Rep. Richard Gomez is facing a disqualification case filed by Palompon town Mayor Ramon Oñate.
Richard has been in the political arena for several terms already. He established his name in the entertainment industry as one of the ’80s matinee idols. Throughout his career in showbiz, he has done acting projects that boosted his status and became one of the most prominent names in the industry.
Richard is just one of the many showbiz personalities who crossed over to politics. He has been serving his constituents in Leyte for many years. Before becoming a representative, he also served as the Mayor of Ormoc City, the home city of his wife Lucy Torres, the current Mayor.
For the 2025 midterm elections, Richard Gomez decided to seek another term as the congressman of the 4th District of Leyte.
However, Mayor Oñate filed a disqualification case against him at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) headquarters at the Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros, Manila for allegedly spreading misinformation, based on the article in Inquirer.
The Mayor’s legal counsel Emil Maranon said that the petition was prompted by Facebook posts on the “DYRG 101.5 FM ‘Blue Radio’” Page on March 6 and March 7. The post reportedly contained accusations against an electoral board member.
“The culpability of Mr. Gomez came in when he propagated the said malicious Facebook post,” Oñate’s legal counsel said. Maranon also pointed out that the actor-politician shared this on his Facebook page “Richard ‘GOMA’ Gomez” with around 752,000 followers.
Furthermore, the legal counsel stressed that Richard shared this with his own added caption that the town will have a “grave and massive election cheating this coming May.”
With this, Maranon stressed that under Section 261 (z) (11) of the Omnibus Election Code, which stated that spreading false or alarming reports to the general public is an election offense.
As of this writing, Richard Gomez has not yet released a statement about the disqualification case filed against him.