Leyte 4th District Representative Lucy Torres-Gomez has turned down senatorial nominations by standard-bearers of the 2022 presidential elections as she filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) for Ormoc City mayor on Friday, October 8.

Gomez was accompanied by her husband, incumbent Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez, relatives, supporters, and members of their camp, the Ormoc Development Team (ODT), at the Ormoc City Commission on Elections (Comelec) Office.

Speculations about her senatorial bid came in early this year but Torres-Gomez repeatedly denied them and did not categorically dismiss the possibility, saying that she’s not “closing any doors.”

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The congresswoman was earlier torn between two political parties after she received invitations to join the senatorial race from both the PDP-Laban wing of Alfonso Cusi and the Partido Reporma chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson.

With this decision, Torres-Gomez, who is already on her third and last term as congresswoman of the district, is seeking to swap posts with her husband in the May 2022 elections.

The House representative will face former Ormoc City mayor Edward “Ondo” Codilla who already expressed his intentions to return at the helm of Leyte’s independent city.

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Coming out of the entertainment industry, Lucy started her career in politics in 2010 when she substituted Richard, who was disqualified by the Comelec due to lack of residency in Ormoc City.

In March 2013, the Supreme Court (SC) ordered her to vacate the post due to invalid substitution. After the SC voided her victory, Torres described politics to reporters as “a game of devils.”

But less than two months after the SC decision, Lucy won her congressional seat. Since the SC invalidated her previous term, her win in 2013 was effectively her first term.

The couple were members of the then-ruling Liberal Party before Richard was listed as a Nationalist People’s Coalition (NP) candidate in the 2016 polls. They joined PDP-Laban in June 2016 shortly after President Rodrigo Duterte won the elections.

The congresswoman earlier defended the controversial anti-terror bill in an interview with Karen Davila on ANC which drew mixed reactions from Filipinos.

Torres-Gomez chairs the committee on disaster resilience according to the House of Representative website. She is also the vice chairperson of three other committees – the creative industry and performing arts, tourism, and women and gender equality. – Rappler.com