TACLOBAN CITY – Celebrity couple Richard Gomez and Lucy Torres-Gomez filed their certificates of candidacy (COC) on Wednesday, formalizing their re-election bids in Leyte’s 4th congressional district and Ormoc City.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday afternoon, Richard, incumbent representative of Leyte’s 4th District, said the 2025 election is challenging but he is hoping it will be peaceful.
He is reportedly running against former Court of Appeals Associate Justice Vicente Veloso III, who also served as Leyte 3rd District representative.
“Every election is a challenge, and we must prepare the right way. For the new term, I will refile bills that were not passed. Other than laws, what is important are the infrastructure programs that we can bring into Ormoc City and to the district,” Richard said.
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Lucy, who accompanied her husband, said she has not known any rivals in her attempt to seek the mayoral post in Ormoc for a second term.
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“In Ormoc, the campaign is not just for a certain position or a certain candidate, but for the entire slate,” said Lucy, a former model.
In the 2019 and 2025 elections, all bets under their team secured the mayoral and vice mayoral posts, as well as 10 seats of the city council.
The Torres-Gomez clan and its political allies dominated Leyte’s 4th District after their bets were victorious in the 2019 midterm polls, ending the decades-long rule of the Codilla family.
After two failed attempts to win an elective post, Richard joined local politics in 2010 when he ran as Leyte 4th District representative. He was disqualified months before the elections, prompting Lucy to replace him.
Lucy was declared winner in 2010, and her substitution was considered by the Commission on Elections as “legal and valid.”
However, less than two months before the 2013 elections, the Supreme Court ordered her to vacate the post due to a question on the eligibility of her substitution.
In 2013, Lucy ran for Congress and won, while Richard lost his mayoral bid. Because her previous term was invalidated, Lucy’s win in 2013 was considered her first term.
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In the 2016 elections, the couple ran for the same local positions and both won the poll.
Richard, who served as mayor of Ormoc for six years, swapped posts with his wife in 2022. (PNA)
