Rico’s story (Part 1)
As promised, today's column is an inaugural presentation of successful Filipino immigrants in the United States. I envision that by featuring the stories of our kababayans, that those who have been aspiring and dreaming to come to the US will never lose hope.
I have to admit that for this very first installment of our immigrant journeys, I am a bit biased. Aside from the fact that we are distant cousins along the Parilla bloodline from Leyte, we also share the same Adelante spirit as graduates of University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R). I have also guested at his radio show at dyAB before and, for the record, I admire the way this very talented individual remained humble, kind towards others and, most especially, how doting he is to his mother.
Most, if not all of you, know him. You may be even asking: "Asa na diay kaha to siya no?" He was one of the most recognizable faces in the Cebu media industry having been a reporter, newscaster, and morning show host at ABSCBN and dyAB as well as a columnist of this paper's sister publication, BANAT News.
My dear readers, today we feature Mr. Rico Lucena. Rico Parilla Lucena was born in Naval, Biliran. Early on even as a young child he was already very confident in talking to the public. Surrounded by the support of his mom and, in his words, a vibrant childhood neighborhood, he knew that his ambition was really something related to speaking. He wanted to be a priest, then eventually a lawyer, but since he was exposed to public speaking way back in high school that goal has slowly changed into something more challenging. He wanted to be a newscaster.
He graduated with a Mass Communication major in Broadcasting degree at USJ-R. He realized that to achieve his goal as an effective newscaster, he must also be a good storyteller, which can only be enhanced if he loves writing. He then set out to develop his writing skills while still eyeing to land an apprenticeship at the biggest and number one company back then --ABS-CBN which he eventually did.
His hard work and dedication paid off as he was hired as part of the pioneering team to open their station in Dumaguete. After close to three years in Dumaguete, he was reassigned to Cebu. His ambition, eagerness to learn, and passion for his craft did not go unnoticed. He landed his first official TV engagement as a reporter and pinch hitter anchor for TV Patrol Central Visayas, hosted a weekly magazine show called "Chikahay ‘ta", and eventually did a radio commentary program on dyAB.
The company saw the need of having a local morning show, so he was tapped to host “Maayong Buntag, Kapamilya”, a daily news magazine show. Apart from these TV and radio engagements, he wrote a bi-weekly column in Banat News. Already a busy trimedia personality, he was teaching part time at USJ-R and still was able to finish his master’s degree!
And so I asked him the same question that everyone may have. With such a booming and promising career, notwithstanding the celebrity status that comes as a media personality, why did he give it up? What made him decide to migrate to the US? For Rico, the opportunity of coming to the US was already there. In fact, he and his mother already migrated to the US when he was still a teenager. Sadly, he was not accustomed to the US culture and due to disparity between the two country's educational systems, it meant that he would be forced to spend another two years in high school in the US. So he decided to come back to the Philippines, finish his studies and eventually became a broadcaster in Cebu.
As a result, his permanent residency status was abandoned. In all those years that he was enjoying his job in Cebu, the difficulty of being separated from his US-based mother was becoming real. So in 2004, his mom decided to file a I-130 petition for him upon his request. It took more than 10 years of waiting before it was approved. Even then, he was still fully undecided whether to leave his stable media career or to pursue the unknown life in the US.