ACTOR-SPORTSMAN and Philippine Olympic Committee second vice president Richard Gomez and former national bowler Tito Sotto are poised to win their elective posts following Monday’s midterm elections.
The 76-year-old Sotto is solid at eighth place and is in contention for a post in the Senate in the ongoing count.
Before 2025, Sotto served a total of four terms in the Senate, from 1992 to 2004 and 2010 to 2022,
Currently, Sotto has 11,930, 352 million votes, two notches ahead former national volleyball player Pia Cayetano, who is behind at ninth with 11,711,494 votes.
Meanwhile, the 59-year old Gomez is expected to win as Congressman in the Fourth District of Leyte.
Gomez, who is into fencing and shotgun shooting, and leads the national sports association of modern pentathlon, defeated Vicente Sofronio “Ching” Veloso in the congressional race after getting 171,113 votes, to secure a second term.
Also, former La Salle Green Archer Francis Zamora has won a third term as San Juan City mayor, with PBA Hall of Famer Philip Cezar his opponent.
Dodot Jaworski, another former basketball player, for his part, has been proclaimed Vice Mayor of Pasig City, after winning by a landslide.
Former basketball player Vergel Meneses is also poised for another term as Bulacan Mayor.
Ex-PBA stars James Yap and Don Allado were reelected to the city council in District 1 and District 2, respectively, of San Juan, while 10-time PBA champion Franz Pumaren is set for his second term as Quezon City third district representative.
University of Sto. Tomas Growling Tigers alumni Jeric Teng and Jervy Cruz , who also both played in the PBA, got elected on their first tries as municipal councilors in their respective provinces.
Teng won in Gumaca, Quezon, while Cruz was lucky in Nampicuan, Nueva Ecija.
Hot-shooting Gary David, who played for multiple PBA teams, was elected for a municipal council seat in Dinalupihan, Bataan.
Their successful bids came as eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao, who is set for his induction to the Boxing Hall of Fame next month, was at no. 18 in the senatorial standings. He garnered 8,404,314 votes so far, trailing by more than 2.3 million votes for the 12th and final Senate seat.
Olympian swimmer Eric Buhain lost the congressional seat in the first district of Batangas province, while another Olympian Monsour del Rosario lost in his bid become Makati City vice mayor.