By Ferdinand Patinio
MANILA – A petition to disqualify Leyte 4th District Rep. Richard Gomez from the May 12 midterm elections was filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday for allegedly spreading fake and alarming news in the province.
In a 25-page petition, Palompon, Leyte mayoral bet Ramon Oñate asked the poll body to disqualify Gomez from seeking reelection after he supposedly propagated “malicious and false” contents through his official Facebook page (Richard “GOMA” Gomez) on March 6.
According to the petition, Gomez’s post has the accompanying caption “Palompon is poised to do grave and massive election cheating this coming May.”
“The malicious and false contents propagated by the Respondent (Gomez) contained false and alarming reports or information relating to the general conduct of the election and other specific matters for the purpose of disrupting or obstructing the election process or causing confusion among the voters,” said Oñate in his petition.
He also attached a video of the program “Krusada sa Radyo” hosted by John Kevin Pilapil that was originally uploaded on the Facebook page of DYRG 101.5 FM Blue Radio.
“Despite the falsity and the alarming nature of the claims and accusations of John Kevin Pilapil, the Respondent maliciously propagated, amplified, and bumped up by sharing/reposting said scathing reports in his official Facebook page/official online campaign platform,” Oñate, also a reelectionist, said.
Oñate also asked Comelec to consider the votes cast in favor of Gomez as stray or invalid and proclaim the rightful winner should the disqualification case be decided with finality before May 12.
In case the former actor wins, the proclamation must be suspended until the final resolution of the case, Oñate added. (PNA)
