Lucy Marie Martinez Torres-Gomez (née Torres; December 11, 1974), is a

Filipina Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino, English, or other Philippine languages. Despite formerly being subject to ...

actress and politician currently serving as the mayor of

Ormoc Ormoc (IPA: �oɾˈmok, officially the City of Ormoc (; ; ), is a independent component city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 230,998 inhabitants, making it the second mo ...

since 2022. She previously served as the Representative for

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

's 4th district from June 2010 to March 2013 and from June 2013 to June 2022. She is married to fellow actor turned politician

Richard Gomez Richard Frank Icasiano Gomez (; born April 7, 1966) is a Filipino actor, TV host, politician, and épée Fencing, fencer. He has been serving as the House of Representatives of the Philippines, Representative of Leyte's 4th congressional di ...

, who currently serves as the representative for Leyte's 4th district.

Early life and media career

Torres-Gomez was born on December 11, 1974, in

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

to Manuel "Manoling" Torres Jr. and Julie Martinez, the second of four children. She has an older sister and two younger brothers. For primary and secondary school, she attended the Benedictine founded Saint Peter's College in Ormoc. Torres-Gomez later attended the

University of the Philippines Cebu The University of the Philippines Cebu (; ; also referred to as UPC or UP Cebu) is a public research university and the youngest constituent university of the University of the Philippines System located in Cebu City, the capital city of Cebu ...

(then a college of the

University of the Philippines Visayas The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV or UP Visayas) is a public university, public research university in Iloilo, Philippines. A constituent university of the University of the Philippines system, it teaches management, accountancy, ...

), from which she earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

business management Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

. In 1993, Torres-Gomez shot a TV commercial for Lux Shampoo at Lake Caliraya, Laguna, where she met her future husband, Richard Gomez. Five years later in 1998, the two starred in the

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

television sitcom '' Richard Loves Lucy,'' and married that same year. Torres-Gomez has also hosted the TV5 reality dance competition show '' Shall We Dance?'' and the Q lifestyle show '' The Sweet Life'', and endorses Philippine brands bench/, and Kashieca.

Political career

Torres-Gomez was elected the Representative for Leyte's 4th legislative district as substitute candidate for her husband Richard Gomez on May 10, 2010. Gomez was disqualified by the

Commission on Elections (COMELEC) An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

due to his lack of one year residency in the district, a requirement of eligibility for office. On March 19, 2013, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, ruled on a protest filed by fellow congressional candidate Eufrocino Codilla Jr., ousting Torres-Gomez from office. The Courts said that she "did not validly substitute" her husband. Her ousting did not affect her re-election bid, and she regained her seat in May of that same year, beating incumbent Ormoc Mayor Eric Codilla. In May 2016, Torres-Gomez was again re-elected as representative, defeating Violeta Codilla. As congresswoman, Torres-Gomez has principally authored over 100 bills and co-authored 35. She is the chairperson of the House Committee on Disaster Resilience, and the vice chairperson of committees on

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, and Women and Gender Equality, and the special committee on Creative Industry and Performing Arts. At the height of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in June 2020, Torres-Gomez expressed her support for the controversial

Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, officially designated as Republic Act No. 11479, is a counter-terrorism law intended to prevent, prohibit, and penalize terrorism in the Philippines. The law was passed by the 18th Congress and signed by Preside ...

, stating that fear of the abuse of law is not a valid reason to reject needed legislation. The bill was signed into law as Republic Act No. 11479 on July 3, 2020. The law's constitutionality is currently being challenged in the

by multiple groups. Torres-Gomez, together with husband

, was a member of the then-ruling

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

during her early political career, but left in June 2016 to join the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban) shortly after

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

won the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

Personal life

Torres-Gomez married actor and Leyte representative

on April 28, 1998 at the Saints Peter and Paul Parish Church in Ormoc,

. They currently reside in Ormoc, and have one daughter, Juliana Marie Beatriz (b. 2000), who graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

from the

UP National College of Public Administration and Governance The University of the Philippines - National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP - NCPAG), a degree-granting unit of the University of the Philippines Diliman, is the first school of public administration and public policy in Asi ...

. Torres-Gomez is

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. She speaks Cebuano, English, and Tagalog. In 2018, Torres-Gomez was named Most Stylish Woman by

Philippine Tatler ''Tatler'' (stylised in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper and upper-middle cla ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torres-Gomez, Lucy 1974 births Living people Visayan people Filipino television personalities People from Ormoc Actresses from Leyte (province) Filipino people of German descent Filipino people of Spanish descent Filipino actor-politicians Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Leyte (province) Women members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines University of the Philippines Cebu alumni The Philippine Star people GMA Network (company) people ABS-CBN people TV5 Network people Filipino politicians of Chinese descent Partido Federal ng Pilipinas politicians