Down to Earth with Lucy & Richard

Being married for more than two decades under the eagle eye of the showbiz world is no easy feat, but Lucy Torres and Richard Gomez do it as if it is a breeze. We caught up with the two during a virtual media kamustahan recently and I just appreciate how Richard gives the floor to his wife as much as he can and in return, Lucy listens attentively to the gentle command of her “honey” which makes everything smooth-sailing for everybody.

Richard being the mayor of Ormoc and Lucy being Leyte’s fourth district representative naturally make both of them planted in the city, especially during the pandemic. It was cute to note, however, that even though both of them were holding a virtual event, they went live from different locations. Richard was at the city mayor’s office and Lucy was at her work-from-home office set-up.

Lucy shared that their set-up was more distant during the BC (before COVID-19) era, “Ever since he became the mayor of Ormoc six years ago, nagkikita lang kami during the weekends. So, the biggest blessing for me was magkakasama kaming tatlo during this lockdown.” Of course, Lucy was referring to their lone daughter Juliana as the third person she’s thankful for bonding with more during this pandemic.

Juliana is now on her third year of studying Public Administration at the University of the Philippines. And even though that gives us the impression that she is geared towards the political route of her family, Lucy said she and Richard were always surprised by their daughter joining school plays in secret.

“Parang lang siya iyong daddy niya na parang may blinders. Talagang eye on the goal lang. So with Juliana parang I have never heard her say, ‘I wanted to be in showbiz’ (because) mahiyain siya talaga eh,” Lucy said.

“Sa sobrang mahiyain siya, did you know that we could count with our two hands how many times we watched her in a school play because she is the type na malalaman na lang namin after the school play. Parang siya iyong batang walang magulang kasi hindi alam ng magulang na mayroon pala siyang performance. Magaling siya ah. She’s actually good.”

Juliana may be an only daughter, but Richard and Lucy make sure that she develops to be one tough cookie that is why Richard always reminds her, “I told her to take care of herself. Ingat ka kasi ang daming mambobola sa ‘yo. You must learn to differentiate!”

The Gomez family has their plates full in life and at home. They did talk about the accidental hit online cooking show of Richard, Goma at Home, which has racked up millions of views per episode in just a week of release!

Goma shared, “Stress reliever ko siya during the pandemic na naging show... maliit lang kami, a team of six. Goma at Home, iyong camera of three lang and every week, nag-iisip lang kami anong recipe gagawin next.”

No. 1 fan of Goma’s food naturally is Lucy who simply adores his cooking. “Cooking show niya (but) it is nothing out of the ordinary because he really does it for us on a daily basis. Ang difference lang ngayon is he started filming it but he’s been doing it for the longest time. Maybe because he grew up with his lola and she always cooks three meals a day.”

Even though Lucy has a svelte and flawless figure, she said that she enjoys food cooked by her husband very much and she is blessed to go back to eating basics with her family.

“In terms of favorites, mabilis lang pasiyahin appetite ko. I like simple food lang. Gusto ko lang mga adobo, mga Pinoy din, mga lutong bahay. There are things I don’t eat talaga like nga kambing because we had a pet goat,” she shared.

“And then before, kung gaano ko ka love iyong chicken, ngayon hindi na rin ako kumakain ng chicken because during the first lockdown sila kasama ko every afternoon, parang sila iyong naging kaibigan ko so hindi ko na siya makain. We have a pet pig, si Hamlet. Kumakain pa rin naman ako ng baboy but it’s been fun and ngayon ko lang uli na-enjoy kasi iyong kinalakihan ko talaga is farm-to-table.”

Lucy always says that she blooms where she is planted and things seem to come to her naturally and, of course, since it is is her last term, she is not closing her doors to run for Senate if the opportunity crosses her path.

“Hindi siya plano or grand dream. Nothing that I have now was pre-planned, kusa lang nangyari. I just flow wherever the waters take you; and just be open to possibilities but not be driven purely by ambition.”