(Part 1)
Ormoc City was where my siblings and I, as gradeschoolers, would spend our summer vacations. Mama would always be proud to show us around where she grew up — her school, her favorite playground — and introduce us to her former schoolmates and other friends she grew up with.
Of course, we would always look forward to such visits because it also meant endless feasting on the sweetest pineapple Ormoc is known for and the delectable Pastillas de Leche from Carigara, an hour’s drive from the city province, which our grandmother would always welcome us with.
As we grew older, visits to Ormoc became less frequent because we realized we wanted more excitement in our summer vacations. As grown-ups, we started to realize that Ormoc is a sleepy town. We would just stay home at my grandmother’s house, then pray the rosary with her when the bells toll at the nearby Sts. Peter and Paul Church for the 6:00 p.m. Angelus. For teenagers, that daily routine was dull. As the years progressed, we even got to the point of avoiding Ormoc because we learned that criminality in the city increased and the use of prohibited substances became prevalent. In fact, the city became the drug capital of Eastern Visayas.
Fast forward to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, which put an emphasis on eliminating these prohibited substances. Then Ormoc Mayor Richard Gomez worked hand-in-hand with the president in restoring peace and stability in the city and freeing it from the clutches of drug purveyors and users. Finally, in 2018 and 2019, my dearly beloved mother’s hometown was named “Safest City In The Country” by the Philippine National Police Crime Research and Analysis Center. It remains drug-free to this day, thanks to the hardworking tandem, the best-looking husband-and-wife government officials in the country, former Mayor Gomez and former Congressman Lucy Torres-Gomez of the 4th District of Leyte.
The May 9 elections saw the couple switch positions, which the Ormocanons agreed with overwhelmingly, as each won over their respective rivals not just by a landslide but by an avalanche. To the newly elected Congressman of the 4th District of Leyte Richard Gomez and newly elected Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez, I owe a debt of gratitude for putting my mother’s hometown back on the tourist map once again. So, when this “good-looking duo” invited some media friends and I to attend the city’s various fiesta celebrations, I immediately accepted. My last visit to Ormoc was almost a decade ago, so I wanted to see the changes. And I was not disappointed.
Driving anywhere in the city is such a pleasant experience because all the roads are either smoothly asphalted or cemented. Tourism has grown by leaps and bounds, as shown in the hotels’ high occupancy rates. According to Congressman Gomez, big investors have come knocking at the city’s door non-stop. This first-class city is now teeming with commercial establishments, in fact, it’s beginning to look like any city here in Metro Manila…and, of course, it’s a sleepy town no more. I’m very proud to learn that Ormoc is now the economic, cultural, commercial, and transportation hub of Western Leyte, thanks to the hardworking Gomez tandem, who best exemplifies what good governance is all about.
After a two-hour drive from Tacloban (Ormoc’s new airport is scheduled to start operations next year), my media friends and I arrived just in time for the Piña Festival Parade that kicked off the city’s series of fiesta celebrations. Congressman Gomez invited us to join him and his family on the City Government’s float so, there we were, with the newly elected councilors, waving at the throng of happy Ormocanons who lined the streets, who were also excitedly waving back at us. They must have wondered who we were.
The parade ended with the proclamation of the Piña Festival Queen, the contestants who also participated in the parade on their respective floats accompanied by their own pep squads. There were eight of them, representing different schools in the city. After the customary “look over” by the board of judges, the very pretty Princess Donah Ortega Paraiso of STI College was proclaimed Piña Festival Queen 2022.
The Gomez tandem decided to stage this Piña Festival yearly when they started their respected terms in office six years ago. It has become a very effective way of attracting more visitors to the city. It was always a big success because it translated to a remarkable increase in revenue for the commercial establishments.
Of course, it is also fitting to have a festival that celebrates the farmers’ bountiful harvest of pineapple because the fruit is one of Ormoc’s top agricultural products. The Ormoc pineapple is relatively small compared to those grown elsewhere, but what makes it very much in demand is its pleasantly saccharine taste.
Congressman Gomez told us that pineapple farmers have to wait 18 months before the fruit is ready for harvest, so they schedule their planting to ensure a harvest every day of the year.
With 500 hectares of agricultural land planted with pineapple, small wonder the city has more than enough of the sweet fruit to offer visitors any day of the year.
After the Piña Festival event at the city plaza, the Gomez couple invited us to a sumptuous buffet dinner at the new Ormoc Museum, which is another feather in their cap. They both made it possible for the Ormocanons to have this “window to their past” through the beautiful and important exhibits. The priceless art and historical pieces displayed on the museum’s two floors, including Congressman Gomez’s personal collection of Amorsolos, make this new Ormoc landmark a “must” for visitors.
Our dinner stretched longer than usual because the couple shared with us more of the city’s interesting attractions and events, which conversation later included “juicy tidbits” on anything and everything that only good friends talk about. These and more, next week!
YOUR MONDAY CHUCKLE
“When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it’s a sure sign you’re getting old!” – Mark Twain
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