Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama (Left) and Miss Tourism International 2012 Rizzini Alexis Gomes during the Miss Cebu 2013 Coronation Night at the Pacific Grand Ballroom in Waterfront Hotel and Casino, Lahug.
She will be remembered as professional, silent, charming, and intelligent.
Rizzini Alexis Gomez, Cebuana beauty queen and Miss Tourism International 2012, passed away yesterday morning due to lymphoma of the lungs.
Ricky Ballesteros, executive director for Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI), said that intelligence and charm had won Gomez several pageant titles.
“Aside from being tall and beautiful, she would always stand out when she talks,” Ballesteros told Cebu Daily News.
Ballesteros said that he received the news that the 25-year-old Cebuana beauty queen died at 8:20 a.m. yesterday in a hospital in Cebu City.
She was a registered nurse and the daughter of former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) player Rhoel Gomez.
Gomez danced with other festival queens of the national Aliwan Festival during the Sinulog 2015 Grand Finale in Cebu City. (Gomez was Reyna ng Aliwan in 2010.)
Her health condition was already known then, making her Sinulog dance as a prayer offering in 2015 a poignant appearance.
But it was not apparent that Gomez was sick because she was jolly and regularly attended dance rehearsals of the grand finale, recalled Ballesteros.
She also danced in the 2013 Sinulog Finale as thanksgiving to the Holy Child after winning the Miss Tourism International 2012 title at Sunway Resort and Spa in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
Gomez was the second Mutya ng Pilipinas queen to win that that title after Peachy Manzano in 2000.
Ballesteros said he would meet fashion designers, models and others who worked with Gomez to convey their condolence to the family and discuss any assistance they can give.
Gomez made a name in beauty pageants, starting with the 2008 Miss Mandaue where she won several awards including Best in Costume, Best in Swimsuit and Most Photogenic.
Gomez was Miss Cebu 2009 first runner-up. She was also named the muse of the Alaska Aces in the PBA during the opening ceremonies of the 2012-2013 season.
She was diagnosed with lung cancer not long after her international pageant victory.