Richard Gomez excels in all his roles, be it in front or behind the camera.
We last saw Richard Gomez in Manila during the Bench “Body of Work” show and now, he is now in the thick of the campaign for Leyte’s congressional seat.
As his birthday draws near, we put the spotlight on Richard Icasiano Gomez, the only child of race car driver Eddie Kelly Gomez and Josephine Icasiano (known famously by her stage name Stella Suarez), an actress in the 1960s. His cousin is Stella Suarez Jr. (also known as Pinky Suarez) who was adopted by his parents and raised as his sibling. Richard was raised by his grandmother.
Goma, as we fondly call him, was working at McDonald’s when he was discovered by talent manager Douglas Quijano. He then became one of the most prominent faces of Bench, a Philippine clothing brand. His acting debut came in the 1984 movie “Hindi Mo Ako Kayang Tapakan” with Charo Santos, Joel Torre, Michael de Mesa, Charito Solis, Gina Alajar, Chanda Romero, Dante Rivero, Liza Lorena, Rosemarie Gil, which was directed by Maryo J. delos Reyes.
In April 1998, he married Lucy Torres at the Saints Peter and Paul Parish Church in Ormoc, Leyte. They currently reside in Ormoc, and have one daughter, Juliana Marie Beatriz, who graduated cum laude from the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance.
Goma himself graduated from the UP Open University (Associate in Arts, 2009) and the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA(Masters in Business Administration, 2016). He earned a doctorate in public administration from the Cebu Technological University in 2019.
As an athlete, he was able to bring home one bronze medal in 1995, two silver medals in 1997, another silver medal in 2001, a gold medal in 2003, and another gold medal in 2005 — all for fencing. He also won one gold medal and one silver medal during the 2015 Asian Masters Championship.
Goma has done really well as congressman for the fourth district of Leyte, and contrary to earlier pronouncements by his political opponents, he is not disqualified as a candidate and he has ranked on top in election survey ratings.
On the side, Goma paints, cooks, and shares his recipes and cooking techniques through his YouTube channel, “Goma at Home.”
In his recent post about the bountiful harvest in their Albuera farm, Goma said that the countless bananas is “a testament to the hardwork and dedication put into its cultivation,” and it’s very Goma to say that he is already thinking of recipes and things to do with the harvest.
Goma’s basic mantra is to give your best all the time. He said, “Challenges are a part of life –gano’n talaga — there will be failures and not everything will be successful. If you fail, just keep trying.
“If you love what you do, sometimes the awards, recognition don’t matter,” Goma added. “Whatever makes me happy is a form of success already.
After sealing his impending win in the coming elections (as his constituents really affirm his hands-on and pro-active kind of public service), we are looking forward to seeing Goma grace the silver screen once again. He is after all, the critics and audience’s favorite actor. Is the project with Rein Entertainment pushing through? Hopefully so.
