Lourd De Veyra Has A Cult Following Of Young Viewers For His Witty And Satirical 'Word Of The Lourd' Infotainment Videos

LOURD DE VEYRA is a true multi-media personality. He started as the vocalist of bands like Dead Ends and Radio Active Sago Project. A four-time Palanca awardee for essays and teleplays, he’s now also seen on TV as an anchor of TV 5’s “Aksyon sa Umaga”, weather forecaster in the evening newscast “Aksyon”, does the digital newscast “Kontrabando”, has his own radio show “Chillax” every Saturday at 9 PM on Radyo5 92.3 NewsFM, and he also writes a blog.

He has published eight books, two of which are best sellers, “This is a Crazy Planets” 1 and 2, a collection of his blog entries, but he says his books of poetry are “nganga”. He has also written a novel, “Super Panalo Sounds”, about a band that’s on the verge of stardom. And he has written a screenplay that he hopes to direct some day. Yes, Lourd is a multi-talented man who wears many hats.

Born on February 11, 1975, he is the second of three kids. He has a degree in journalism from UST. His mom is a pianist who comes from a family of musicians. A brother of his mom is well known rocker Mike Hanopol. “Hanopol is my middle name,” says Lourd. Later during the day, we will be interviewing his Uncle Mike himself in another presscon.

Lourd started his career on TV in ABC-5’s “Topak” and as a VJ in MYX Channel. But viewers started to really notice him in the news segment “Word of the Lourd” where he does 3-minute infotainment videos combining news and witty commentary. It became very popular with the younger crowd of progressive viewers aged 18 to 25, who comprise his cult followers. “Our producer uploaded it on Facebook and we notice na mas dumami pa ang hits sa social media,” he says.

Other shows he has done since then are “Lupet”, “Tayuan Mo at Panindigan”, “Wasak”, “Hindi Pa Tapos ang Laban”, “History with Lourd: Tsismis Noon, Kasaysayan Ngayon” and “Good Morning Club”. He also became an endorser with his own TV ads. As of now, he is endorsing five products including coffee, liquor, casino and chicharon.

“Never kong pinangarap mapanood ako sa TV,” he says. “Kusang ibinigay ito sa akin at ine-enjoy ko lang habang may nanonood sa’kin.”

Is he now recognized in public? “Every now and then, yes. May nagtatanong, anong weather ngayon o kung totoo raw ba yung tsismis ko kay Rizal. Meron ding nanghihingi ng chicharon.”

How about his lovelife? “May kasama akong nagtatampisaw sa kasalanan. Ten years na kami. Taga-Star Cinema siya.” Any kids? “None yet.”

Lourd has gained respectability as a broadcaster when he started winning awards: best male news anchor in the 13th Gawad Tanglaw Awards, best culture-based documentation host for “History with Lourd” from the National Commission for Culture and Arts, Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Media (TV) from 8th Hildegarde Awards. Right now, he’s doing a docu on the controversial Spratlys and he just came from its islands that are now slowly being occupied by the Chinese. Truly, we can say that as a broadcaster, Lourd is one of a kind and in a league of his own.