Richard and Lucy on love, beauty, the power of the spoken word, Bongbong and Duterte
One of the most successful celebrity couples in Philippine politics is actor, former Ormoc City mayor, sports medalist, and now Leyte Congressman Richard Gomez and his wife, actress, former congresswoman, and now Ormoc Mayor Lucy Torres Gomez.
Recently at the colorful celebrations of Ormoc’s 424th fiesta, the Piña Festival, Lechon Kumbira contest, and the elegant inauguration rites of the city’s newly elected officials, Goma and Lucy granted exclusive interviews to The Philippine STAR. Here are some excerpts.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR: How much do you love Ormoc City?
CONGRESSMAN RICHARD GOMEZ: I married an Ormoc beauty! I love Ormoc very much.
What’s your advice to your wife as the new Ormoc City Mayor?
I advised Lucy, as Mayor, please wear your ID every day (laughs). Be careful with what you sign, read documents thoroughly, and let them first pass through the legal office. When I was the mayor, I did not sign the business permits.
What changes did you implement as mayor of Ormoc?
Ormoc used to be the illegal drugs capital in Region 8; it has become the safest city in the country.
When I became mayor, peace and order was my top priority. When Duterte ran for president six years ago, there were only three mayors in Leyte province who supported him and I was one of them. When I went to see President Duterte to ask his help to end illegal drugs in Ormoc, nagmura siya (he cursed) and then he really helped us.
Is it true you cried when you last visited Duterte in Malacañang? Why?
In June, I, Lucy, and our daughter Juliana visited him at Malacañang Palace to take our oath and I was teary-eyed, because I realized he had two weeks more to go as our leader. He had done so much for Ormoc, our region, and the whole Philippines in the anti-illegal drugs campaign, in infrastructures, etc. I told him: “Thank you, you will go down in history as one of our best presidents.” And he said, “Alam mo, Goma, magkaibigan tayo (You know, Goma, we’re friends).”
MAYOR LUCY TORRES GOMEZ: President Duterte has done so much for Ormoc, Leyte and the country. He has visited us many times. I am most impressed with his sense of urgency, like in his response to our 2017 earthquake; he came with his entire cabinet. He did not just send his people.
What about new President Bongbong Marcos? You supported his election. Your impressions?
RICHARD: I like President Bongbong. Because dumaan siya sa (he passed through) local government as Ilocos Norte governor, you will better understand the intricacies of governance. If you watch politicians who did not go through LGU, it’s different. I have very high hopes for President Bongbong Marcos, that he will improve agriculture, continue to fight illegal drugs, support sports and continue to fight terrorism to ensure lasting peace. I’ve told BBM: “Mr. President, in my capacity as Congressman, I want to support your administration.”
In June, I, Lucy, and our daughter Juliana visited him at Malacañang Palace to take our oath and I was teary-eyed, because I realized he had two weeks more to go as our leader. He had done so much for Ormoc.
BBM has visited us in Ormoc four times: during 2013 typhoon Yolanda, during the 2017 earthquake and two other times. He’s quiet, when you talk to him. But we talked about a lot of things.
LUCY: President BBM, through the years, they’ve been consistently kind to us and our region, even when they were not in power. He was here after the 2017 earthquake; he had just lost but he was the first to come here to Ormoc.
What are the best tourist sights and events of Ormoc City?
We have Lake Danao National Park, Kalanggaman Island with one of the most beautiful white-sand beaches in the Philippines, Cuatros Islas, many others. Ormoc is the hub for tourism for the whole fourth district of Leyte province. Ormoc is like Hawaii in terrain. We have our annual Piña Festival to celebrate our sweetest pineapples. We also have the Lechon Kumbira contest to highlight our very good, tasty roasted pigs. In our Piña Festival, the winner of the dance and costume contest is our Piña Queen; the contestants are like dolls and they have fantastic costumes that are really nice.
(Writer’s note: This columnist was invited to be one of the judges in the Lechon Kumbira contest, to taste the yummy no-sauce roasted pigs by Ormoc’s top 12 lechoneros. The top three winners were: Poldang’s Lechon for first place, Jess Special Lechon for second place, and Romo’s Lechon for third place.)
How long did it take you to learn to speak Visayan fluently? Was it difficult?
It took me one year to learn Visaya. I bought a dictionary to study it, plus I told all our maids and drivers not to speak to me in Tagalog, but only in Visaya. Learning Waray is more difficult. The town of Tunga half speaks Waray, while the other half speaks Visaya. There’s a mountain here in Leyte that divides the Waray and Visaya areas.
You’re an ally of former President Duterte; did you speak to him in Visaya?
Yes, I spoke to President Duterte in Visaya and he was surprised that I could speak Visaya fluently. He was also born here in Leyte province in the municipality of Maasin, which is seven towns away from Ormoc. The first time he came here when I was mayor, he was on the way to Maasin, which is one and a half hours’ drive from here; I invited him for lunch. He had me and Lucy checked first before he agreed to have lunch with us, because lots of LGU politicians are connected to illegal drugs.
Is it true your paternal great-grandfather was the politician and labor leader Dominador Gomez?
How did you know? Amazing! Yes, he was my great-grandfather and he took over after Isabelo de los Reyes to become the leader of the Union Obrera Democratica in February 1903 and three months later he led the first-ever celebration of May 1 here in the Philippines as Labor Day. He was a doctor, an ilustrado, but really for the masses. He was a legislator representing Manila, that’s why the late Mayor Alfredo Lim had wanted me to run as his vice-mayor before. Our old house in Binondo, Manila — it was sold by my grandfather Antonio P. Gomez, who was a writer for the Spanish newspaper and worked also for Tabacalera.
Was he the only politician in your family before?
My mother’s from the Icasiano family of San Rafael and Bulakan towns in Bulacan province — they had governors and mayors.
How did you turn Ormoc’s old city hall into a museum?
Lucy and I love art, cultural heritage. The old city hall building was built in 1948. When I became mayor there was a new city hall and this place was trashed, so I asked our councilors in 2016 to turn the old city hall into a museum. Here, we display artifacts dug up from construction sites like World War II machine guns.
Do you know that WWII’s second biggest naval battle happened in Ormoc Bay? In 2018, the group of Bill Gates sent three vessels here; they found nine Japanese naval ships and six US naval ships under the sea. I rode their submarine with a capacity for 11 people and we went 600 feet below the sea; it took us 45 minutes to get there.
Did Ormoc City buy all the artworks displayed in your museum?
All the paintings and artworks in the museum, including antiques, old photos, old currencies, and the Amorsolo oil paintings in a separate room, those are from my personal collection which I and Lucy loaned to Ormoc.
Mayor Lucy, is it true that one of your beauty secrets is having lots of sleep, at least eight hours daily?
LUCY: That was the advice of my late maternal grandmother Lola Carmen Gachaphin Martinez, that sleep is very important to beauty. She advised us to get eight to 10 hours of sleep daily. If a person is resting, she told us not to disturb him or her.
In my youth in our rural region, there were no pressures, and life was very languid; we learned to be happy with what we have, we didn’t feel the need for Manila life.
Are you the first politician in your family?
My grandfather, Lolo Vicente Torres, was also Mayor of Ormoc, but only for a short while in the 1950s.
You share Richard’s admiration for former President Duterte. How do you respond to those who strongly dislike him?
PRRD is not perfect, but he has done so much. I always say our truth doesn’t invalidate others’ truth. President Duterte’s anti-illegal drugs campaign, housing and other programs are really pro-poor.
I heard your maternal grandma gave you lots of unique advice?
Yes, Lola Carmen had many unique pieces of advice. On girls looking for the ideal guy, she had this advice: first, kung ang dalaga ay gusto mabighani ang lalaki (if a single lady wants to captivate a guy), do not go to a place with fluorescent light but to a place with yellow light; second, wear earrings, (because) a woman should always have pearl earrings no matter what size; third, the choice of a husband should not be left to chance or fate, but to God, so always pray.
Is it true that you were already a young fan of Richard and that it was your dream to marry him someday?
I believe in the power of the spoken word, so be careful what you say (laughs). Yes, I was only 12 years old when I saw his pictures in entertainment magazines; he was just then starting in showbiz. He was tall, dark, and handsome, so I said: “Akin ’yan (He’s mine)!”
I’d follow his career and was sad whenever he was reported to have other girlfriends. Whenever he’d reportedly separate with a girlfriend, I’d tell my cousins: “Tuloy na kami (We will finally end up together)!” I even once went to Cebu for his event there, hoping to meet him. I even said maybe I should become an actress so that I could meet him.
How did you eventually meet? I heard it was for a TV commercial?
Yes, I finally met Richard when I was 18, for a shampoo TV commercial for Lux. What happened was like a movie… I was then studying in the University of the Philippines in Cebu and the company doing the Lux commercial had a shoot in Cebu. They were looking for a girl with long hair who had never been seen on TV. The casting people went to UP Visayas to look for such a girl. They went to the Fine Arts Department and they chanced upon a student named Jon Uson who was, at that time, painting my face. The caster from J. Walter Thompson ad agency asked him: “Who is that girl? Where is she?” I was then in class. That was how I was discovered.
It took me six years of praying to finally meet Richard. Our TV commercial shoot was in April 1991. They only told me that the male celebrity was a certain “Boyet.” I thought it was actor Christopher de Leon and said he was much older than me… On the day of the shoot, when it turned out to be Richard, I was excited, speechless. Had they told me, I would have done the commercial for free!
In your inauguration speech, aside from more public schools, a free community college, and libraries, you said you want Ormoc City to be “the healthiest city in the Philippines” with free classes in yoga, qigong, tai chi, exercise, dance, arts and crafts, meditation, plus a center for alternative medicine. Are these part of your own beauty and health secrets?
I’ve been practicing qigong 25 minutes daily ever since the March 2020 lockdown. I like it. It is calming, gentle, and feels like yoga. Your body will be healthy. I studied it and also took online classes. I don’t like strenuous sports. I like alternative medicine. I also go for acupuncture with a lady called Sister Regina in Panay Avenue, Quezon City. That’s also where singer and actress Karylle goes for acupuncture.
You have so many infrastructure, health, tourism, and other socio-economic plans for Ormoc. Do you have the budget for all those projects, amid our global economic uncertainties?
We’re a small city with limited means in Ormoc, so we need to be like BDO in their slogan: “We find ways.” We’re not magicians, but we will find ways.