Buddy Gomez

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In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Bayhon and the surname or paternal family name is Gomez.

Tomas "Buddy" Bayhon Gomez III
Adolfo S. Azcuna
Succeeded byHoracio V. Paredes (acting)
Personal details
Born
Tomas Gomez III

(1935-03-25)March 25, 1935
Calbayog, Samar, Philippines
DiedJuly 22, 2021(2021-07-22) (aged 86)
Arzúa, Galicia, Spain
Political partyLakas–CMD
Spouse(s)Teresita Policarpio Samson (m.1962)
Mary Egloff (?–2021)
Children7

Tomas "Buddy" Bayhon Gomez III (March 25, 1935 – July 22, 2021) was a Philippine journalist, businessman, and politician, who most notably served in a number of posts in the administration of Corazon Aquino.

Early life and career

Gomez was born on March 25, 1935, in Calbayog, Samar, to a prominent family. He is the son of Tomas Arquiza Gomez Jr. and Helen Rowland Bayhon. His grandfather was Senator Tomas Gomez, Sr., who represented Samar in the Commonwealth Senate.[1]

He began his career in 1957 at

Ayala Foundation), and the firm's Public Relations Director.[3] In that year he was forced to go into an "involuntary exile" as a result of the imposition of martial law
, continuing to work for Ayala abroad for a number years before eventually returning to the Philippines.

In April 1986, he was appointed by new President

Honolulu, Hawaii.[5][6] The position was an important one, not only because of sizable Filipino community in Hawaii, but because former President Ferdinand Marcos had taken up exile there, along with as well as his family and 89-person strong entourage.[5] As such, Gomez acted as Aquino's "eyes and ears", keeping tabs on the ex-president.[5][7] Colonel Arturo Aruiza, a Marcos confidant who joined the former dictator in Hawaii, described Gomez as a "plague in our lives, whose chief preoccupation was to keep track of our doings."[1] During his tenure Gomez acquired a reputation as a "financial freak", who cut the consulate's headcount, and forwent his housing allowance (instead living on the consulate's second floor) in order to supplement those of his remaining staff. His vision of converting part of the historic consulate building into a museum and archive dedicated to the Filipino community in Hawaii, however, was unfulfilled at the time of his recall in December 1989, shortly after Marcos's death.[8]

After returning to the Philippines, President Aquino appointed Gomez as her

Presidential Press Secretary in January 1990. He was also appointed as Cabinet Officer for Regional Development (CORD) for Metro Manila, during which time he supported the election of Ignacio Bunye (who had worked for Gomez at Ayala in the 1970s) as Chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Authority.[7] He served in both posts for just over two years until February 1992, when he stepped down to pursue a bid, backed by outgoing President Aquino, for the Senate in the May 1992 elections, hoping to follow in his grandfather's footsteps, as a candidate of the Lakas party.[1] Although the Lakas presidential candidate, Fidel V. Ramos, was elected, the party struggled in the legislative elections, winning just two seats. Gomez came 49th, with 1.7 million votes and 5.8% of the vote, in a race where there were 24 seats up for election, and was not elected.[9]

Following the election, he was appointed as president and Chairman of the then state-owned

ABS-CBN News website.[2]

Personal life and death

Gomez had four children with his first wife Teresita Samson - Maria Elena Gomez-Pulgar, Tomas "Mitch" Gomez IV, Karen Gomez-Dumpit, (former commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights),and Teresa Gomez-Coscolluela, and three children by his second wife Mary Egloff- Jose Maria Sebastian Gomez, Edward Joseph Gomez and Malia Gomez.[10][clarification needed]

Gomez died on July 22, 2021, while undertaking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Galicia, Spain during the Year of Mercy in honor of St. James. Having departed from the town of Sarria on July 18, Gomez had completed 75 kilometers out of the 115 kilometers to Santiago de Compostela by the time he reached the town of Arzúa where he passed away on the night of July 22 in a pilgrims' hostel.[10][7] Gomez had chronicled his pilgrimage on his blog prior to his death, and following his death, his children went on to complete the remaining 40 kilometers in his memory obtaining his pilgrim's certificate posthumously.[10]

References

  1. ^
    The Philippine Inquirer
    . Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Former press secretary Buddy Gomez dies". Rappler. July 24, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  3. ^
    ABS-CBN News
    . Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  4. ABS-CBN News
    . Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Montalvan, Antonio (July 24, 2021). "My unfinished mission with Buddy Gomez". VERA Files. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  6. ^ "About the Consulate-General". Philippine Consulate-General, Honolulu Hawaii. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c Bunye, Ignacio R. (August 2, 2021). "El peregrino, Tomas 'Buddy' Gomez III". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  8. ^ Aquino, Belinda A. (September 4, 2021). "Honoring the Late Buddy Gomez – A Man of Vision And Action". The Filipino Chronicle (Hawaii). Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  9. ^ "The Philippine Presidency Project". December 5, 2004. Archived from the original on December 5, 2004. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  10. ^
    ABS-CBN News
    . Retrieved May 11, 2022.
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