JERRY OLEA
Ipinagpapasalamat ni Lucy Torres ang dalawang taong pamamalagi niya sa Ormoc City nitong kasagsagan ng COVID-19 pandemic.
Pakiramdam niya ay nakatulong ito para mapaghandaan niya ang pagbibigay-serbisyo ngayon bilang bagong halal na alkalde ng Ormoc City.
Si Lucy ay nagsilbing Leyte Fourth District representative mula 2010 hanggang 2022, habang ang mister niyang si Richard Gomez ay nagsilbing Ormoc City mayor mula 2016 hanggang 2022.
Read: Lucy Torres-Gomez, Richard Gomez build animal kingdom in their Ormoc City home
"It was like a… parang OJT na rin, it’s like a crash course," sambit ni Mayor Lucy nang mainterbyu ng PEP Troika noong Hunyo 26, 2022, Linggo ng gabi, sa Ormoc Museum.
"Although nothing really prepares you for the job than the actual, you know, the daily grind.
"I mean, I’m happy that the Ormoc I will be leading is not the same Ormoc that Richard [Gomez] led in 2016 when it was the drug capital of…
"We have peace and order talaga as the foundation, and then everything you can build na.
"Because I always say nga that peace is very underrated ba. That’s one of those things na you take for granted until it’s not there.
"Then you fight to have it again, not knowing that it is pala the basis of all the good that you have."
Napaka-divisive ng nakaraang eleksyon.
Read: Lucy Torres draws flak for invoking God to support Marcos Jr's candidacy
"Oh, yeah, it was vicious," mabilis na pag-ayon ni Mayor Lucy.
"It was a very different elections because sometimes… sometimes you only fight locally, e.
"But this particular elections, even your national choice, even your choice for a national candidate, you get vilified also, ‘no?
"Kasi, I don’t engage. Because I always say, ‘What is the point when… if you look at the big picture, we all want the same thing anyways.’ What is the point of fighting?
"I say that is why we have an electoral process. Kasi nga, we are a democracy.
"And then, once the people have decided, it is our duty na as citizens to rally behind the chosen leader, whoever that is."
Anong maasahan sa kanya ng mga taga-Ormoc bilang bagong mayor nila?
"I have my long-term goals, ‘no, but when they say, 'Are you excited to lead Ormoc?' I say, the word "excited" does not capture it.
"Because it is a job that I’ve seen the burden to carry, it’s not easy. People only see kasi the finished product.
"But when you make a decision, you are judged for having come up with the decision, not knowing the process it went through, di ba?"
Batid ni Mayor Lucy na marami pa siyang kakaharaping pagsubok.
Aniya, "I’m entering this with my eyes wide open. I don’t romanticize it. I know that the work is hard.
"Yes, it’s purposeful but difficult. That’s why I say I have my long-term goals but I’ll take it a day at a time.
"Because if I look too far ahead, I’ll be overwhelmed. And I think if I think too much of the work, baka I’m worrying about something that may not even happen, di ba?"
Narito ang ilang kuha ni Lucy mula sa oath-taking biya bilang Ormoc mayor, na ginanap noong July 28, 2022:
My sweet moment pa ang mag-asawang Lucy at Richard:
NOEL FERRER
Uulitin ko ang huling reminders ni dating Mayor Richard Gomez sa asawang bagong Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez.
Una, always wear your ID. Pagpapatunay raw ito na sinusunod nila ang rules na ipinapatupad.
Ikalawa, be careful with what you sign. Pinaghihirapan daw talaga ang pangalan at dapat itong pangalagaan.
Ingat sa kung saan mo ikakabit ang pangalan/lagda mo because somehow, that defines you.
All the best, Mayor Lucy! Lagi kong isinasaisip ang sinabi mo, "Find the people you can trust and take them with you all the way."
The best is yet to come!
GORGY RULA
Pagkatapos ng inauguration nung Martes, June 28, 2022, tumuloy kami sa beach house ng mag-asawang Cong. Richard Gomez at Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez, at binati namin si Lucy sa napakagandang speech niya.
Binanggit niyang isang bayan sa Japan ang peg niya para sa Ormoc City. Malulusog ang mga tao roon dahil sila mismo ang nagtatanim ng mga gulay at prutas na kinakain nila.
Ang ganda ng pagkalahad ng binabalak niya sa sinasabi niyang "Ormoc City’s Tree of Dreams." Sinasalamin ng punong-kahoy na ito ang vision niya para sa kanyang lungsod.
Ang mga sanga at dahon ay "prosperity." Dito papasok ang tourism, agriculture and food production, retail and trade, real estate, at manufacturing construction.
Ang puno naman ang "infrastructure," at dito nakapaloob ang social at physical Infrastructure.
Ang mga ugat ay ang "soil of peace at health." Gusto niyang makita itong greenest city at malusog ang mga Ormocanon.
Dito muna sa local government ang focus ni Lucy, at wala raw sa plano niya ang mas mataas pang posisyon.
Kaya nang tinanong siya na lumalabas pa ang pangalan niya sa survey ng senatoriables, idiniin ni Lucy na hindi pa talaga niya iniisip iyon.
"I always say nga na whatever we have, wherever we are now in terms of political positions and in terms of the network that we have, this was never pre-planned. This was never even a dream. So, it’s not like we’re working towards any goal.
"It’s just that, ito lang talaga ang latag. I say naman… because many things in my life happened organic, yeah… I did not plan. I did not plan to one day get married to a man who belongs to a world so different to mine.
"Kasi, nakita niyo naman ang buhay dito sa probinsya, di ba?" pahayag ni Lucy.
Masasabi ba niya with finality na wala talaga sa isip niyang maging senadora?
"I always say na it’s never been a… it’s not like we have a master plan, and that we have timelines stuff.
"And we say na, by this time dapat ganun, wala talaga," tugon ni Lucy.
Dagdag pa niyang pahayag: "I don’t like stress in my life. Because life is hard enough, di ba? So, I always say na I only want what God wants me to have, basically like that.
"More important is I am able to be where I’m supposed to be at any given moment with no grand ambitions to be a senator.
"I’m focused on my plate. On my plate now is my job as mayor by July 1, and I’m focused on that.
"Sa dulo naman ng lahat, your report card is your body of work, di ba?"