Different fates befall show biz couple Gomez

LUCY GOMEZ

CEBU CITY—Actor Richard Gomez’s political ambition ran into a brick wall again when he failed to clinch the mayoral position in Ormoc City, Leyte.

He lost to Edward Codilla, brother of outgoing Mayor Eric Codilla and a political neophyte, after garnering 37,182 compared to Codilla’s 39,430 or a margin of 2,248 votes.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer sought comment from the actor but he declined. “Let’s do it some other time. Tnx,” the actor said in a text message on Wednesday.

His running mate, Luis Carmelo Locsin, won the vice mayoral race while six of his party mates made it to 10-seat city council.

But Gomez’s wife, Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez, is returning to the House of Representatives.

A partial tally of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed that she is leading in the congressional race against Mayor Codilla.

Torres-Gomez had 97,583 votes while Codilla had 71,488 based on the canvassing of 57.72 percent of the district’s 397 clustered precincts.

Eric is the youngest brother of Edwin whose family has been dominating Ormoc politics and that of the rest of Leyte’s fourth district for years.

RICHARD GOMEZ

The fourth district covers Ormoc and the towns of Albuera, Palompon, Isabel, Matag-ob, Merida and Kananga.

Matthew Torres, younger brother of Torres-Gomez, was defeated by Mayor Elmer Codilla of Kananga town, brother of Eric Codilla and Edwin Codilla.

During the 2010 elections, Gomez ran for fourth district representative but was disqualified due to lack of residency.

He fielded his wife who eventually won. But early this year, the Supreme Court unseated Lucy on the ground that she could not legally substitute her husband because he was not a candidate right from the start.

In Siquijor, singer Fernando “Dingdong” Avanzado is on the way to becoming the next vice governor.

With 92.95 percent of votes, Avanzado of the Liberal Party is leading the count with 25,169 votes against the 20,472 votes of Art Pacatang of the Lakas NUCD. With a report from Alex V. Pal, Inquirer Visayas