Updated April 16, 2013 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Former senator Richard Gordon is making a political comeback by seeking a seat in the Senate under the United Nationalist Alliance.
Gordon’s history on executive, legislative and humanitarian works spans more than three decades.
A lawyer by profession, Gordon started early in public service. He was in his mid-20s when he became the youngest delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention (ConCon).
As mayor of Olongapo City from 1980 to 1986, he made waves by turning Olongapo into a highly urbanized city. He introduced volunteerism, color-coding of vehicles, and proper waste disposal long before they were adopted by other localities.
In 1987, Gordon became governor of the Philippine Red Cross and he is now serving his fourth term as chairman of the humanitarian agency.
He rose to national prominence even more when he got Olongapo City back to its feet after the Mt. Pinatubo eruption and the pullout of American bases in early ‘90s.
Gordon also became secretary of the Department of Tourism from 2001-2004, during which he launched the world-renowned “WOW Philippines” campaign to attract foreign tourists into the country.
This year, Gordon is gunning for a Senate seat on May 13. And he is banking on his accomplishments as a senator from 2004 to 2010 and his long experience in public service.
“I have experienced the Senate... I’ve passed important laws - the automated (election) law, tourism law, international humanitarian law, and the economics,” Gordon said.
“I have the wisdom that comes from being a lawyer; being a ConCon delegate, the youngest at that in 1971; being a mayor, a local government official for 13 years; handling business conglomerates at the SBMA (Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority); being a secretary of tourism and chairman of Red Cross. That experience you cannot get anywhere,” he added.
Gordon promised that if again elected as senator, he would initiate laws that would improve the country’s education system and uplift the lives of teachers who are earning much lower salary compared to their counterparts in Asia.
He also expressed concern over the country’s “weak” defense and its lack of functional air force and navy amid the territorial disputes with other nations.
Gordon admitted that he sometimes longs for the “intelligent discourse” that he had at the Senate.
“It’s not only making laws... You have to make sure, why tourism law is not being enforced. Why is there so little employment despite the high income, despite the Gross Domestic Product going up, why power (program) is not implemented in Mindanao,” he said.
“It’s not talking for the sake of talking. It’s talking for your country. Senators are after all elected to discuss policies... That’s why there are senators who cannot do anything. They cannot communicate, they don’t attend meetings,” he added.
Gordon lamented that even though Filipinos have elected leaders since 1946, “it seems that every time we elect, we have not really grown like the other countries in Asia.”
“We’ve gone down and everybody has overtaken us. Every time there is an election, we are supposed to improve. There’s been no improvement. It seems we are not voting for the right people,” he observed.
