Richard Gomez faces disqualification case over 'false, alarming' info

Palompon, Leyte Mayor Ramon Oñate on Monday filed a disqualification case against Leyte 4th District Rep. Richard Gomez for allegedly spreading “false and alarming” information online. 

Oñate arrived at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Office in Intramuros, Manila to file the disqualification case against Gomez, who is running for reelection in the May polls. 

According to the petition, Oñate said Gomez violated Section 261(z) (11) of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) when he used his official Facebook page to share a video of a local radio program hosted by John Kevin Pilapil, which is allegedly spreading “malicious and false” content against members of the Electoral Board (EB) in the municipality. 

Gomez captioned the post: “Palompon is poised to do grave and massive election cheating this coming May”. 

“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 ‘Richard ‘GOMA’ Gomez’,” the petition reads. 

“By doing so, he did not only propagate the malicious post to his followers and to all Facebook users, but he moved it to the top of the list, increasing its visibility and potentially reigniting interest or conversation,” it said. 

Denial

The EB members denied the allegations, Oñate said. 

Gomez welcomed the filing, saying disqualification cases are "used as a smokescreen to deflect attention from a candidate’s own misconduct or simply to cause disruption during the election process".

"Anyone can file an election-related case against another candidate, regardless of how trivial or baseless the reasons may be," Gomez told GMA News Online.

"Often, these cases are used as a smokescreen to deflect attention from a candidate’s own misconduct or simply to cause disruption during the election process," he said. 

'Vicious attack'

During the program, Pilapil accused the EB members of allegedly having direct family connections to certain candidates running for councilor, mayor, and other government positions in the May polls. He also allegedly threatened an election officer and accused her of bribery. 

“The malicious and false contents propagated by the respondent 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,” the petition added. 

Oñate also said that apart from reposting the video, the reelectionist candidate likewise published a list of names of the EB members “not only with the intent to publicly shame them and cast doubt on their integrity before his audience, but to open them to vicious online attack and even threats from the supporters of the respondent and his allies”. 

Gomez’s Facebook page has 720,000 followers as of writing.

“In sum, both posts either taken separately or together would unequivocally show the intention of respondent not only to propagate false and alarming reports or information on the general conduct of the election with the intention to disrupt or obstruct the election process or cause confusion among the voters, but to damage the reputation of, cast doubt on, and publicly question the integrity and capability of the Honorable Commission to carry out honest, orderly, peaceful and credible elections,” Oñate added. 

In his petition, Oñate called on the Comelec to resolve the case before the May 12 polls and to consider votes for Gomez as stray and invalid. If he wins before the case resolution, the petitioner urged the poll body to suspend his proclamation. However, if Gomez is proclaimed before the resolution of the case, Oñate wants the Comelec to continue pursuing the case in line with residual jurisdiction. 

Section 261(z)(11) of the OEC states that “any person who, for the purpose of disrupting or obstructing the election process or causing confusion among the voters, propagates false and alarming reports or information or transmits or circulates false orders, directives or messages regarding any matter relating to the printing of official ballots, the postponement of the election, the transfer of polling place or the general conduct of the election” may face an election offense case. —LDF, GMA Integrated News

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