Goma barred from seeking congressional seat in Leyte

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) First Division has disqualified actor Richard Gomez from running for Congress in Ormoc, Leyte, making him the second Liberal Party (LP) candidate to be excluded from the 2010 race because of residency issues. In a promulgation held Wednesday, the Comelec division said it disqualified Gomez for "lack of residency." The Comelec had earlier disqualified LP Palawan gubernatorial bet Abraham Khalil Mitra from running in the May polls also because of residency issues. [See: Mitra disqualified from running as Palawan governor] A former barangay chairman in Ormoc, Buenaventura Juntilla, filed a petition asking the Comelec to disqualify Gomez for not being a bona fide resident of Ormoc. He said the actor lacks the one-year residence required by the law. Juntilla, former chairman of the Barangay Libertad, said Gomez resides in East Greenhills, San Juan and not in Can Adien, Ormoc as he claims on his certificate of candidacy. In earlier interviews, Gomez said he has been spending more time in Leyte – home province of his wife, Lucy Torres-Gomez – than in Manila since 2007. He accused his rival, Winnie Codilla, of having a hand in the disqualification case against him. Gomez’s lawyer, meanwhile, said they would appeal the case to the Comelec en banc as he assured the actor’s supporters that they would exhaust all means to reverse the decision. “Para sa mga mamamayan ng Ormoc, hindi pa ito final, temporary setback lang ito kay Richard Gomez. Ipaglalaban ni Richard Gomez ang karapatan ng lahat ng mamamayan ng Ormoc, tuloy-tuloy ang laban ni Richard Gomez," said Raymond Cajucom. (I want to assure the people of Ormoc that this is not final, that this is just a temporary setback. The fight continues for Richard Gomez.) In 2001, Gomez ran as party-list representative for Mamamayang Ayaw sa Droga (MAD), an anti-drug group that he headed. It gathered a lot of votes but was later disqualified after it was found that it was funded by the government. He ran for senator in 2007 as an independent candidate but was unsuccessful. - KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV