Saturday, February 4, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home Lifestyle Columns

Ormoc City’s tree of dreams

Bob ZozobradobyBob Zozobrado
November 6, 2022, 9:40 pm
in Columns, Lifestyle, Mercury Rising by Bob Zozobrado
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

When the youthful, good-looking Lucy Torres-Gomez was sworn in earlier this year as mayor of Ormoc City, she ended her inaugural speech with the exciting and hopeful promise, “The best is yet to come!”  

As a young boy who spent my summers in that city, my mother’s hometown, listening to Mayor Lucy’s assurance got me so thrilled, revved up, and very optimistic about the city’s future.

A few weeks ago, Ormoc City celebrated its 75th Charter Day with a week-long series of festivities. There were all kinds of fun events – beauty competitions, basketball exhibition games, concerts, etc. – but what I was looking forward to was Mayor Lucy’s State of the City Address (SOCA) as I was very interested to hear the details of “the best” that was in store for the city and its residents. And, I was not disappointed!

Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez delivering her State of the City Address

Mayor Lucy pictured her plans for the city as a steadfast, strong, and tall Tree of Dreams, which embodies her vision for her constituents’ wellness, health, prosperity, and abundance.  This tree, she will continue to nurture so that it will bear fruits that always benefit her constituents and visitors alike, towards making Ormoc a beautiful city.  

She wants a cultural transformation by exposing the residents to the arts, which is one reason why she and her spouse, Congressman Richard Gomez, converted the old City Hall into a beautiful museum with dozens of art masterpieces on display, including Congressman Richard’s personal collection of Amorsolos.  Plans include art appreciation tours for grade schoolers and high school students to, hopefully, develop their valuing of fine art at an early age.  

ADVERTISEMENT

One of the events during the week-long Charter Day celebration was the performance of the entire Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra at the plaza, which overflowed with residents who enjoyed the beautiful contemporary, classical, and OPM music played to perfection by the illustrious group. Speaking of the plaza, the mayor already contracted a well-known architect and design expert to convert it into an architectural wonder for the residents to take a leisurely stroll in, any time of the day.

One of the events celebrating the city’s 75th Charter Day is the unveiling of the Commemorative Stamp, attended by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

Mayor Lucy plans to make Ormoc a wellness destination, to make yoga a popular activity among the Ormocanons. She wants everyone to be mindful of their health, towards making the city a Blue Zone, much like Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, Nicoya in Costa Rica, and others where many residents live to be a hundred years old or more.

Of course, she attributes the present development and transformation of the city to her beloved, former mayor and now congressman, Richard Gomez. Just like the very recent, first-of-a-kind plebiscite in the country which asked for voters’ consent to merge 29 barangays in the city, all of which were too small and too scarcely funded to deliver benefits to its residents.  

The then Mayor Richard took the cudgels of doing the dirty job, trying to convince his constituents that such a move was for the residents to enjoy all the benefits due them.  Much to the delight of Mayor Lucy, the plebiscite took place on her 100th day in office and the affected residents delivered overwhelming support for Congressman Richard’s earlier proposal.  The city now only has 85 barangays, streamlined for easy management for the city government.

Ormoc’s First Family, the main reason why the city has earned the tag, ‘The City of Beautiful People’

The former Mayor Richard also started an intensified campaign against illegal drugs and crime in the city, resulting in the city now being declared one of the safest and drug-free cities in the country.  Mayor Lucy bannered the city’s “Best City Mobile Force” and her putting together a second SWAT Team to ensure pegging the city’s crime rate at near-zero.

  She has also put up a Natural Resources Office to protect and care for the environment, especially because the city is the first carbon-neutral, climate-resilient city in the country.  Mayor Lucy recalled that forty years ago, former President Ferdinand E. Marcos inaugurated the Geothermal Power Plant in Tongonan, a barangay of Ormoc, and this is still in operation until now, providing much-needed power to the entire region with its 232.5 MW capacity, making it the world’s largest capacity geothermal power plant.

The massive Tongonan Geothermal Power Plant has become a popular tourist attraction (File photo)

Plans are afoot to build an Ormoc City Community College which will help develop the skills and capabilities of the Ormocanons, focusing on youth training for leadership skills.  I’m confident that all these projects can easily materialize because the local government has the political will to really make the city match international standards.  After all, it is the first ISO-certified Local Government Unit in the country.  

There are many other exciting plans the lady Mayor has laid out and it all boils down to one thing – as I mentioned earlier, she wants Ormoc to be a beautiful city because she knows that Ormocanons are beautiful inside and out.  I guess the whole world agrees because if you google “The City of Beautiful People,” “Ormoc City” is the only thing that comes out.  Nobody can contest that.  Just look at the city’s First Family.

YOUR MONDAY CHUCKLE

An ad for a church has a picture of two hands holding stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments are inscribed and a headline that reads: “For fast, fast, fast relief, take two tablets!”

For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com

Tags: Lucy Torres-GomezOrmoc City
ADVERTISEMENT
Bob Zozobrado

Bob Zozobrado

Related Posts

Empowering Little People through fashion

byManila Standard
February 4, 2023, 7:40 pm
0
8
Albert Andrada Paris Fashion Week 2023 show moved to July

To commemorate the 6th Founding Anniversary and General Assembly of Big Dreams for Little People Philippines, Inc. (BDLPP), professional designers,...

Read more

Level up your look with Style by Lazada

byManila Standard
February 4, 2023, 7:30 pm
0
8
Albert Andrada Paris Fashion Week 2023 show moved to July

What’s the best way to play with Pantone’s 2023 Color of the Year, Viva Magenta, to make statement looks in...

Read more

Albert Andrada Paris Fashion Week 2023 show moved to July

byManila Standard
February 4, 2023, 7:20 pm
0
8
Albert Andrada Paris Fashion Week 2023 show moved to July

Filipino designer Albert Andrada’s debut solo show in Paris Fashion Haute Couture 2023, originally set on January 25 and 26,...

Read more

Real talk with the real deal

byKate Adajar
February 2, 2023, 9:50 pm
0
8
Put on your dancing shoes

When it comes to matters of the heart, it takes a real friend (or a pushy one!) to knock some...

Read more

Conrad Manila appoints new GM

byManila Standard
February 2, 2023, 9:40 pm
0
8
Put on your dancing shoes

Conrad Manila welcomes the New Year with well-curated touches of luxury, inspired stays, and culinary offers, led by General Manager...

Read more

Put on your dancing shoes

byManila Standard
February 2, 2023, 9:35 pm
0
8
Put on your dancing shoes

Sunshine Place takes Line Dancing a notch higher as it introduces American Line Dancing (LDVALI) workshop that will be conducted...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • Trending destinations in the Philippines
  • Hong Kong’s ‘luckiest spots’ to visit in the Year of the Rabbit
  • Empowering Little People through fashion
  • Level up your look with Style by Lazada
  • Albert Andrada Paris Fashion Week 2023 show moved to July
  • Cebu-based micro-enterprise continues to innovate, diversify
  • Pharma firm releases new Access to Medicines report
  • Sustainable packaging takes centerstage at Propak PH

Advertisement

Latest News

Cebu-based micro-enterprise continues to innovate, diversify

byOthel V. Campos
February 4, 2023, 7:10 pm
0
8
Pharma firm releases new Access to Medicines report

Multi-awarded micro-enterprise Sandria’s Delicious Concept is rebooting systems to start anew projects stalled by the health crisis, building more connections...

Read more

Pharma firm releases new Access to Medicines report

byManila Standard Business
February 4, 2023, 7:00 pm
0
8
Pharma firm releases new Access to Medicines report

Biopharmaceutical leader Takeda recently released its Access to Medicines Progress Report 2022, highlighting the company’s efforts in broadening access to...

Read more

Sustainable packaging takes centerstage at Propak PH

byManila Standard Business
February 4, 2023, 6:50 pm
0
8
Sustainable packaging takes centerstage at Propak PH

The World Packaging Organization (WPO) called on stakeholders and players in the packaging and manufacturing industries to educate people better...

Read more

LandBank engages Lake Sebu stakeholders on capacity building

byManila Standard Business
February 4, 2023, 6:40 pm
0
8
Sustainable packaging takes centerstage at Propak PH

The Land Bank of the Philippines through its foundation conducted trainings on financial literacy and natural farming in Lake Sebu...

Read more

E-commerce enabler gets 3-star award as Lazada partner

byManila Standard Business
February 4, 2023, 6:30 pm
0
8
E-commerce enabler gets 3-star award as Lazada partner

Leading e-commerce enabler for brands in the Philippines, etaily, was the recipient of the 3-star certification from the Lazada Partners...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App