Best known for his “Funfare” column in The Philippine STAR, veteran entertainment journalist Ricky Lo recently wrote 30 at the age of 75. He was also once a columnist of PeopleAsia and was recognized as one of the magazine’s “Men Who Matter” awardees in 2014.
By Alex Y. Vergara
To countless readers of his showbiz column “FunFare,” which appeared regularly for 35 years in The Philippine STAR, his insider scoops and blind items were not to be missed. To his close friends, including colleagues from rival publications, he was a “generous and kind” individual who, despite his legendary stature in Philippine entertainment journalism, was “never difficult” do deal with and didn’t consider himself a VIP.
This is how people remember Ricky Lo, entertainment editor as well associate editor of The Philippine STAR. The widely read journalist passed on last night, May 4, after reportedly being hospitalized since April 24. He was 75.
Born Ricardo Lo on April 21, 1946, Ricky, a native of Las Navas, Northern Samar, earned his Bachelor of Arts in English degree from the University of the East.
According to a recent news story in The Philippine STAR, Ricky began as an editorial assistant in the late 1960s at Variety magazine, the Sunday supplement of The Manila Times, where his “FunFare” column first appeared.
He later joined the now-defunct Philippine Daily Express as staff writer before becoming a deskman at the Evening Express. Prior to joining The Philippine STAR in the late 1980s, Ricky was the entertainment editor of the post-EDSA Manila Times and the Manila Chronicle.
Over the course of a 50-year journalism career, Ricky also authored several books, including “Star-Studded” and “Conversations with Ricky Lo.” He also dabbled in television, hosting such showbiz talk shows as The Buzz on ABS-CBN in 1999 and Startalk on GMA-7 from 2008 to 2015. He later also hosted his own TV shows such as The Ricky Lo Exclusives and Showbiz Stripped on QTV 11.
But it is in the print medium where Ricky’s heart belonged. In another news story, which appeared in philstarlife.com, Ricky was proud of the fact that he never missed a column in his professional life, except once. Through his “FunFare” and “Conversations” column, Ricky also featured Hollywood A-listers like Antonio Banderas, Jackie Chan and Anne Hathaway, among others, theater actors and beauty queens.
In the philstar.com story, Ricky always said that wherever he went, he would be asked the identities of the people in his blind items. His colleagues were no exception. You knew he considered you his friend, the article went on, if he revealed to you the identities of celebrities in his blind items.
The boy from Northern Samar
In an article written by Denise Roco, which appeared in the June-July 2014 issue of PeopleAsia, Ricky shared in his trademark tongue-in-cheek fashion that “I could have been an archbishop by now!”
Not too many people knew that Ricky, together with his two bosom buddies, was a sacristan or altar boy during his elementary school days in Northern Samar.
He would go to church every day and serve in the morning Masses, which were then said in Latin. He and his friends would prepare the Holy Eucharist. Of Chinese descent, Ricky formed a bond with their parish priest Fr. Fernando Tan, who also happened to be Chinese, Denise wrote.
“He was the one who influenced us. We would be playing, swimming in the river, then he’d call out that there’s someone about to die. We helped in administering Extreme Unction. One of us held the crucifix, the other Holy Water, and the other incense,” recalled Ricky.
Still, life led him down a different path. “The drive really comes from within. You don’t wait for people to say ‘Oh, you’ll be a journalist, a doctor or what.’ You don’t say gusto ko Chemical Engineering kasi mataas yung sweldo (I like Chemical Engineering because it pays well),” Ricky shared
In the end, it was showbiz that captured his heart. “I was very fascinated with the stars. They seem so unreal, like they’re not human at all. When I started writing, I realized they were just people, too,” said Ricky.
