ORMOC CITY — The previous local government's successful campaign against illegal drugs and solidification of the peace and order situation here have set the foundations for economic prosperity of this city — now touted to be the richest city in Eastern Visayas.
According to Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez, the hard work done by her predecessor — now Leyte 4th District Representative Richard Gomez — in curbing illegal drug trade in the city and in maintaining peace and order paved the way for the economic boom that the city is presently enjoying.
"I am very lucky because when I became the mayor, the former mayor, now congressman, already took the burden of fixing what is most important to make Ormoc City prosper — the peace and order. No matter how wonderful our dreams are, if peace and order is not established nothing will happen," Torres-Gomez said Thursday at the launching of the city's 75th Charter Day celebration.
"When Mayor Richard Gomez was elected, the first thing he did was to establish the foundation of peace and order. When that was established, everything came — the city prospered and businesses came in," she said.
"What we see now is the product of hard work that was put in the last six years so it was not luck or happenstance but a product of political will and hard work," she added.
The lawmaker, on the other hand, said he considers the successful campaign against illegal drugs as one of the biggest milestones of the city. Gomez was the city mayor from 2016 to 2022 until he was elected to the congress, the post his wife Torres-Gomez held since 2013.
"Ormoc City used to be the drug capital of Eastern Visayas," Gomez said. "When we were given the opportunity to serve Ormoc city we were able to turn Ormoc City into one of the safest cities in the whole Philippines."
