This photo of Richard's wrecked Nissan GT-R sports car (main photo) are among the annexes to the affidavit-complaint submitted by Lorayne T. Pardo to the Silang prosecutor's office.    
 
In an interview with YES!, PO1 Rolando Mapile, one of the responding police officers at the scene of the accident, summed up his observations, based on his initial investigation: "Over-speeding talaga, kasi according ito doon sa skid marks ng sasakyan. Nagpreno siya. Mahaba 'yong skid marks. Ibig sabihin no'n, mabilis 'yong takbo. Doon nalalaman kung mabilis 'yong takbo o mabagal ang takbo ng sasakyan."    
 
Lorayne says that an issue has come out that Nomar was not wearing a seat belt when the accident happened. (Nomar was seated in the back and therefore not required under Philippine traffic laws to wear a seat belt.)   Says Lorayne: "Kung makikita n'yo lang ho 'yong sasakyan ni Richard, kahit naka-seat-belt 'yong asawa ko, baka hindi lang-kasi 'yong sasakyan po niya sa likod, 'yong upuan umangat, e. Sa likod nakaupo 'yong asawa ko, umangat."  
 
She adds that one of Nomar's cousins who inspected the car said that the car was in such bad shape that the driver's seat was misaligned. "Iyong upuan ni Richard, nag-turn patagilid. So ano pang magiging itsura ni Nomar kung naka-seat-belt siya, di po ba? Di, mas lalo pa pong grabe 'yong nangyari sa kanya."

Courtesy of Lorayne Pardo

YES! SPECIAL REPORT (PART 2): Death of a P.A.

Text: Candice Lim / Interviews: Jo-Ann Maglipon, Karen Pagsolingan, Candice Lim & Jojo Gabinete

Thursday, March 18, 2010
12:45 AM

KAIBIGAN, KAMAG-ANAK, KAPATID. Nomar Pardo—son of a mestizo father, Ramon (Nomar's name is Ramon spelled backward), and a Filipino-American-Italian mother, Maria Luisa—inherited his good looks from his parents. He was good-looking enough to be an actor, and indeed he wanted to become one when he was younger.

"Gusto niyang mag-artista," recalls his kababata, Tata Panerio, who was two years Nomar's junior. "Gusto niya dancer, kasi magaling talaga siyang sumayaw na bata. Napakalambot ng katawan ni Nomar noong time na 'yon. Siya nga pambato namin. Magaling kumanta, 'tsaka masayang tao. Mahilig siyang mag-joke-joke."

Nomar spent most of his adolescence in Davao, under the care of his father, Ramon (who at that time had long been separated from his mother), and his stepmother, Sitti Suhara Yahya, a Muslim princess. For college, Nomar enrolled in a computer science course at the Ramon Magsaysay Memorial College in General Santos City, in the province of Cotabato. But Tinseltown's bright lights were too alluring for Nomar to resist.

Ramon Pardo recalls that his son Nomar asked permission to go to Manila, saying: "Gusto ko makita 'yong suwerte ko doon."

So, in 1986, the 19-year-old boy set off for the big city, where Ramon had already arranged for Nomar to stay with his distant relative and friend, the singer Pilita Corrales. Asia's Queen of Songs, called Mamita by her family, welcomed the young boy into her home.

Lotlot de Leon—estranged wife of Monching Gutierrez, Pilita's son with Eddie Gutierrez—remembers the 13 years that Nomar lived with the Corrales family.

"Kahit saan mo utusan 'yan, kahit sa'n pa dalhin ni Mamita... Personal things ni Mamita, siya nakakaalam. Siya lahat nagkakarga ng gamit ni Mamita. Puwede siyang all-around-bodyguard, kaibigan, kamag-anak, kapatid, ganoon siya."

In 1990, Lotlot starred in the sitcom Mag-Asawa'y Di Biro, together with Monching, Pilita, and Eddie. It was here that Nomar had his first acting role, Lotlot says: "May talyer do'n, 'tapos may tatlong mekaniko. Isa si Nomar do'n. Mahilig talaga siya sa showbiz."

Nomar also became a part of the musical-variety show Awitawanan, hosted and produced by Pilita, with the Reycards—Rey Ramirez and Carding Cruz—as co-hosts. But Nomar eventually realized that being an artista was not for him, according to Ramon Pardo: "Ang gusto, behind the camera, sa production. He told me that."

Indeed, it was behind the camera, behind the star, that Nomar shone. He started working as personal assistant to Pilita, and occasionally to Monching.

Says Lotlot of Nomar: "Ano 'yon, e, NPA—No Permanent Address! Kumbaga, kung kailangan namin siya, nandoon siya sa bahay namin... Ang priority niyan si Mamita. 'Tapos, pag wala namang trabaho si Mamita, at si Monching may trabaho, sasamahan niya si Mon-sa shooting, sa lahat."

In a phone interview with YES!, Pilita describes Nomar as a capable P.A.: "He's very good at that kind of job. He was a fast learner." She adds that what she would never forget about Nomar were his funny antics: "He was very good at imitating baklas."

Working and living with the Corraleses, Nomar earned the trust of the whole family.

"Pag walang pera si Monching noon, siya ang tagaakyat kay Pilita," Lotlot reveals. "'Auntie, penge namang pambayad diyan. Walang pera si Mon.'

Iyong ganoon, 'yong didiretso siya sa lahat... Halimbawa, mga kasambahay, hindi maka-approach kay Pilita. Siya magsasabi no'n. 'Kailangan ng pera ni ano, kailangan ganito, may problema si ganyan...' Naging confidante siya ni Mamita."

Lotlot adds, "Ang lalim ng pinagsamahan namin ni Nomar. May pera, wala. May career kami pare-pareho o wala. Nandiyan kami para sa isa't isa, kahit hindi kami lagi nagkikita o nagkakasama."

Ramon Pardo recalls Monching telling him he could always rely on Nomar to come over when needed, even when Monching didn't even have any money to pay for Nomar's taxi fare. "Hindi bumabanggit ng pera 'yon," Ramon quotes Monching. "Pag may ibibigay ako, 'Thank you!' Pag wala, okey lang."

Nomar's father adds: "He never complained to me. He never asked money from me. I knew there was a time that he was hard up. I never heard him complain."

Before working for the Gutierrezes, Nomar took on a myriad jobs. He worked as a production assistant for a Filipino stage show in Brunei, a waiter for Pilita's Kooka Bar, a worker in a cargo forwarding company in Korea, a worker in a tofu factory, and a caregiver for Pilita's sick aunt in Australia.

"Masipag" is how Lorayne describes her husband: "Kahit ano pong trabaho, basta may trabaho, 'tsaka maayos naman po."

Lorayne Torres came into Nomar's life in 1996. She had gone to visit a kinakapatid who sold Avon merchandise in Quezon City. Nomar, who was in the neighborhood, dropped by one day and inquired about the products.

"He was buying," Lorayne relates. "So sabi ko, 'Ayan, o, mas maganda 'yan.' So parang from there, nag-start na, nagkakilala kami. Wala pang cellphone noon, e. Beeper pa lang. So nagbi-beep na, 'Oy! Kamusta?' Ganito, ganyan. Hanggang sa, ayun na, dumaan na sa ligaw."

She was just turning 16 then, and he was already 28. Despite the 12-year age gap, "nag-click lang talaga kami," Lorayne recalls. "Sabi ko no'ng nakilala ko siya, he will be the one."

Lotlot, who witnessed Nomar and Lorayne's relationship blossom, says: "Talagang nagmamahalan 'yong dalawa, sobra. And they waited. They were together for a long time before they really decided to settle down."

The actress explains that Nomar was the type of person who saw the role of padre de pamilya as a big responsibility.

"I guess Nomar always wanted to settle down early kung pupuwede, pero ano 'yan sa pera—gusto niya he's in charge of the family, e. Ayaw niya 'yong wala siyang mapapakain sa asawa niya, sa mga anak niya. So, siguro kung natagalan lang 'yong pagiging mag-asawa nila, it is because 'yong hesitations niya. 'Paano ko bubuhayin 'yan?' But siguro, finally, nagkaroon ng lakas ng loob na, 'Hindi ko papakawalan si Lorayne.'"

In 2003, after seven years of being a couple, Nomar and Lorayne finally tied the knot. With the addition of two sons, Nomar considered working abroad. But he couldn't bear the thought of being away from his family.
"Babe," he once told his wife, "okey lang kahit na sabihin mong pagod ako, basta kasama ko ang pamilya ko."

"Kahit anong pagod niya," Lorayne says, "pag umuwi siya ng bahay, makita lang niya 'yong mga anak niya, happy na siya."

KARAPATAN KONG MALAMAN. When it was time for Nomar's wake and burial, one of the first to offer assistance to the family was the Kapuso network.

Lorayne says GMA-7 executive Carol Galve came to see her and told her: "Miss Lorayne, 'wag po kayong mag-alala sa expenses... GMA po ang magso-shoulder lahat ng expenses ni Nomar, sa burol hanggang sa pagpapalibing."

The widow was naturally grateful for the assistance. "Doon pa lang, napakalaki na 'yong tulong na 'yon," she says. But on the last day of the wake, before the cremation, she didn't specify who she was thanking.

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