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 O±ate 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 Philippines News Agency, the petition claims that Gomez's post included the caption "Palompon is poised to do grave and massive election cheating this coming May." O±ate argued that the contents shared by Gomez were "false and alarming," potentially disrupting the election process or causing confusion among voters.

O±ate's petition was further substantiated with a video of the program "Krusada sa Radyo," hosted by John Kevin Pilapil, originally uploaded on the Facebook page of DYRG 101.5 FM Blue Radio. The petition alleges that Gomez, despite knowing the claims and accusations were false and alarming, maliciously propagated them by reposting the content on his official Facebook page, which serves as his online campaign platform.

O±ate also urged Comelec to consider any votes cast in favor of Gomez as stray or invalid, and to proclaim the rightful winner should the disqualification case be decided with finality before the election date. Furthermore, O±ate requested that if Gomez wins, his proclamation should be suspended until a final resolution of the case is reached.