WE just want to share our grief with the passing of a dear friend, Ricky Lo. More than anything else, we would like to celebrate his life as we had so many good laughs together whenever we’d see each other, usually exchanging bawdy and risque jokes.
We first met Ricky in 1978. We were contributing film reviews and articles about showbiz to the late Malaya (now Malaya Business Insight) entertainment editor Manny S. Pichel, then the entertainment editor of the “Philippines Daily Express.” Ricky was a desk editor but he writes the entertainment column, “Funfare,” for Manny’s page.
Later on, when he was editing “Starweek,” he asked us to also contribute to him and to lead the Urian column of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino which appeared weekly in his magazine. Soon, we became a regular entertainment writer and we were attending showbiz presscons together.
With Ricky, there’s never a dull moment as he always shares juicy “chismis” about the celebrities that you regularly read in his column.
When our son, MM, had his confirmation in 1989, we got Ricky as his godfather and also, for our daughter Hannah, we got other great friends as godmothers: Ethel Ramos, Lolit Solis and Nora Calderon. When our son got married, he personally requested his Ninong Ricky to be his godfather again. He’s very fond of our late wife, Victoria, and each Christmas, he’d pass by our home to bring his gift not just for MM but for our family.
What we personally like about Ricky is that success never went into his head. Considering his stature in the industry, he’s not one to throw his weight around. We’ve met other writers who have yet to achieve even just one fourth of what Ricky achieved but are already acting like they’re God’s gift to the entertainment industry.
We know of some writers who threaten stars: “Sisiraan kita sa column ko.” There was someone who, as the star in a press con arrived, said: “Paiiyakin ko ito.” Ricky was never like that. Feeling entitled. Or feeling powerful.
Ricky and I exchanged greetings everyday through text messages in our cellphones.
Sometimes, he won’t say anything but just send a music video of various old singers doing old songs. There was a time that he was sending us music videos of the same song “Autumn Leaves,” as interpreted by different singers, for several days. Sometimes he’d send jokes that help make our day.
His messages stopped coming on April 27. We thought he must be busy with something else, but we still kept on sending our messages to him. And a week later, on May 4, we got so shocked when a mutual friend texted us to say that he has passed. We were stunned, shocked. We called our son MM and told him: “Wala na ninong mo.”
We were not able to sleep well that night. We were tossing and turning, thinking of the memorable years we spent together. As editor of “Philippine Star,” he’d often call us and ask if we attended a certain presscon and interviewed its star, then he’d ask us to write an article about it. He also asked us to write reviews of so many films.
Ricky never married but we know how very caring and compassionate he was to his siblings, nephews and nieces, many of whom we’ve met. He was very kind even to new writers, never making them feel that his long experience in the business puts him on a higher level than any of them. But most of all, Ricky will be remembered for being a good entertainment writer (that is his real love, writing) and a good friend.
Now that he has crossed over to the other side and we’re mourning for him, we’re sure he’ll be the first to tell us that “life goes on.” That may be so but we’re sure that for all those who have made it a habit to read his columns everyday, his memory will remain in their hearts forever.
