Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez: The Leading Lady

A true power couple: Lucy Torres and husband Richard Gomez both won the positions they were vying for, with Lucy reelected as the Representative for the 4th District of Leyte and Richard becoming the new mayor of Ormoc City. With timeless looks and growing influence, they could just be unstoppable.

By KRISTEL DACUMOS-LAGORZA

Photography by DOC MARLON PECJO

 Editor’s note: The article featuring these excerpts was originally published in PeopleAsia’s August – September 2012 issue. 

Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez, The Star columnist, actress, model and host, was already a popular figure in showbiz. But she was elevated from celebrity to icon, when film director Ruel Bayani immortalized her in the movie No Other Woman with the lines — “Panahon na para i-pack up mo yang Lucy Torres mo! Ilabas mo na diyan si Gretchen Barretto!”

So it was met with slight surprise from the public when the radiant Leyte-born beauty announced that she would assume the candidacy of her husband, Richard Gomez, as representative of Leyte’s fourth district.

Some lauded her courage. Others worried as to how this “saint” of a woman would fit into the chaotic, unsavory world that is Philippine politics. Truth be told, she would be like a lamb among the wolves.

Described as “sincere” and a “lady of extreme politeness,” Lucy is easily affected by “arrogance, wrong reasoning, the selfishness (of people) and mga palusot na wala sa lugar (excuses).” This is why at the beginning of her political career, she often found herself exasperated. “I remember sometimes going home and bursting into tears, because it’s really frustrating pag inaaway ka (when they fight with you),” she laughs. “(But now,) when I’m faced with a situation that I think will upset me, I always think, ‘Five years from now, will this matter?’ And if the answer is no, it’s easier to let go.”

She adds, “I (also) realized that I can’t take anything personally. The world does not revolve around me and or my feelings. If the person chooses not to be nice, then that should be his problem. It shouldn’t affect me far beyond the moment itself. It’s really just work.”

But it would be a grave mistake to confuse her kindness and quiet tolerance as weakness. “I’m not a pushover. I will stand my ground. When I have to fight, I fight back. But I know how to fight… like a lady, that is!” she says with an innocent smile.

And it is with this gentle but firm hand that she has led and brought the fourth district of Leyte from its number 12 ranking, according to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH),  to number one in the few short years she has been part of its local government. She even requested to trade her cameo appearance in Panday 2 for the construction of a four-classroom building.

A devout Catholic and a worrywart (“Maybe that’s why I have so much faith.”), Lucy shares that she learned to pray away her worries with the urging of her grandmother: “Even though I was an honor student (in St. Peter’s College for elementary and high school), my Lola didn’t think getting the highest grade in school was important. What was important was that you were good and you knew how to pray. A person who knows how to pray, will always have hope.”

Lucy hints that politics is definitely not peachy but she is willing to continue with it. She takes the bad with the good because she sees so much promise in the country’s future. Remembering a speech President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III gave during the Liberal Party’s Christmas party, Lucy shares, “He said that by the time our term ends, what we leave behind should be better than how we found it. And by the time I’m done with public service, whenever that will be, I’d like the people to know that I wasn’t just a pretty face who didn’t do anything.”

When asked why from the numerous alleys for nation-building – some obviously less controversial – she still chose politics, Lucy ends on a note of optimism, “Politics is not just politics. At the heart of it is public service. Over the years and over time, (politics) just got such a bad name. Yes, what makes it to the front page usually is the bad news. But we must remember a lot of good things happen also in the world. And generally life is, and the world is, such a beautiful place. So whatever position you find yourself under or whatever place you find yourself in, you have the power to make it as beautiful — or as ugly — as you want it to be.”

Politics is therefore no exception.

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