MANILA – The Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) has disqualified a popular actor-sportsman from joining a congressional race in the Visayas in the May 10 polls for lack of residency.
In a 10-page decision, the Comelec ruled that actor Richard Gomez failed to meet the one-year minimum residency requirement which would enable him to run for a seat and represent Ormoc City, Leyte province in the Visayas in the coming elections.
The Comelec pointed out that Gomez failed to present sufficient evidence to establish his ties to Ormoc City and the absence of such ties indicated his lack of intention to stay there permanently.
It added that although Gomez has registered as a voter in Ormoc City, this does not mean that he already met the minimum requirement of one year residency in the city.
“We are not convinced that he (Gomez) already abandoned Manila as domicile since the fact that he registered as a voter of Ormoc is not a proof that he is not domiciled in another place,†the Comelec stressed.
Aside from being a popular move and television star, Gomez is also a sportsman who has represented the Philippines as a member of its national fencing team in regional athletic competitions such as the annual Southeast Asian Games.
Gomez is the official candidate of the Liberal Party (LP) for the lone congressional seat of Ormoc City, the hometown of his wife.
LP leaders immediately assailed the Comelec ruling as “politically motivated†and intended to harass and keep out in the running several provincial and local candidates of the party, who are favored to win over the rivals in the May polls like Gomez.
The presidential standard bearer of the LP is Senator Benigno “Noynoy†Aquino, the only son of the late global democracy icon president Corazon Aquino.
According to LP leaders, their other candidates who were unseated from their posts by the Comelec shortly before the May polls were Governor Grace Padaca of Isabela province, Cagayan Valley in the Northern Luzon highlands and Ed Panlilio, the governor-priest of Pampanga province in Central Luzon.
The LP said the Comelec recently declared their rivals as the winners in the May 2007 polls but pointed out that Padaca and Panlilio would run for reelection in May as the official candidates of the party.
Lawyers also said that despite the adverse Comelec ruling, this would not stop Gomez from joining the congressional race in Ormoc City.
Gomez’s lawyers explained that the Comelec decision is not yet final and executory, an issue which they intend to elevate to the Supreme Court (SC) which, they pointed out, is the final arbiter on the case.
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