KBQ

Dick Gordon is a passionate leader who does not let anything or lets anyone get in the way in doing what is best for the country and people. Such leadership style has often been misunderstood and branded as arrogance.

Dick Gordon was arrogant as class president in the Ateneo when he started an anti-complacency campaign that students were apathetic and indifferent to society’s ills and were basking on the shadow of the greatness of Rizal and dela Costa during the 60’s.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he joined Raul Manglapus’ presidential campaign under the Party for Philippine Progress and went against the traditional politics of then major parties of NP and LP.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when after his father’s assassination he left a cushy corporate job at Procter and Gamble to study law at UP and seek justice. He was too arrogant in UP to be invited to join the Upsilon Sigma Phi, the oldest Greek-lettered Fraternity in Asia.

Dick Gordon was arrogant while still 24 years old and a law student at UP and against the advice of his professors ran for a seat in the 1971 Constitutional Convention representing Zambales.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when as the youngest delegate he called for a vote on the ban Marcos re-election measure in the 1971 Constitution Convention and even debated with Marcos who was his brod during a student demonstration against the CCP and PICC construction amidst the social unrest of the First Quarter Storm.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he left his career as a lawyer at ACCRA to ran and become the youngest Mayor of Olongapo City in 1980.

Dick Gordon was arrogant before the nation when he transformed the community of Olongapo that was portrayed as Sin City by instituting reforms such as the Color-Code, efficient Garbage Collection and enforced Peace and Order and went against the very criminal syndicates that had previously cost him his father’s own life.

Dick Gordon was arrogant to call for a joint use of the US bases by Filipinos and Americans coming up with a plan even while Marcos and Reagan were re-negotiating the bases treaty in the 80’s long before the closure in 1992.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he jailed some 20 policemen including a chief of police for disturbing the peace and abusing their authority in his city even during the period of Martial Law.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he interfered and went against the wishes of the Aquino administration and the NDCC and brought down 8,000 Aetas from the mountains of Zambales as well as led a rescue team with Americans to the ruins of Central Colleges in Cabanatuan and airlifted relief goods using US marine choppers from Clark to Baguio in the earthquake of 1990.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he let the then Admiral of the US Navy walk and apologize to the community for not letting Filipino citizens of Olongapo safe passage through the base when Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991.

Dick Gordon was arrogant before Congress and the Senate when he lobbied for the creation of a Freeport and at the same time take the reigns as Chairman of the SBMA in 1992.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he competed against leading freeports like Hong Kong, Singapore and Labuan to make Subic an international trade and tourism destination.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he refused to go before Congress to receive a budget from the national government to run SBMA and instead raised his own revenues to spare Filipino taxpayers additional burden and add more to the government coffers.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he competed against Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong to host Federal Express’ Asia One hub in Subic that resulted in Orchids from Davao and fresh tuna from General Santos to be brought overnight to Japan and the US markets.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he reprimanded, suspended and fined foreign investors like Hong Kong Chinese of Reebok, Koreans of Hanjin Construction, Taiwanese of UIG, Germans of Alcatel and Americans of Enron and Coastal who were abusive and or have violated labor and environmental laws, respectively in Subic.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he forced the longer stay of 21 world leaders of APEC in the Leaders’ Summit to prove that the country was a safe and a sincerely changed nation.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he fought for the best bid for the Filipino taxpayer of Hutchinson to privatize the Subic container port against vested interests in the industry and co-opted high ranking officials of the Ramos administration who wanted to maintain and preserve a monopoly.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he was the first to stand up against the most popularly elected president, Joseph Estrada, who issued his first act of not recognizing government security of tenure and the rule of law in 1998. He still remained arrogant going against and even after GMA granted the latter pardon.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when despite initial demonstrations and walk-outs he made the Department of Tourism shape up as a frontline service agency to be voted top government department in a survey by the Makati Business Club when he ended his stint in 2004.

Dick Gordon was arrogant to lead the tourism industry at the height of kidnappings, war in Mindanao and even more arrogant to sustain the effort to promote the Philippines amidst Abu Sayyaf, SARS, and the Oakwood mutiny.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he stood up against first world countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia who issued unfair Travel Advisories indirectly rewarding terrorists against third world countries like the Philippines who’s economies depend on tourism.

Dick Gordon was arrogant to ran for the Senate even while surveys placed him at number 29 and that he had no money and machinery yet landed number 5 even without sectoral religious support.

Dick Gordon was arrogant in the Senate in consulting and unifying the fragmented tourism industry to have a common policy body and push for the Tourism Act in Congress until it was finally signed into law in 2009.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he commandeered an entire US marine battalion to relocate their joint training exercises in Luzon to assist in rescue and relief operations in the St. Bernard, Southern, Leyte landslide in 2005.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he took charge and ordered various government rescue personnel and even media during the chaotic Wowowee ULTRA stampede.

Dick Gordon was arrogant in the 13th Congress when he defended the integrity of the Constitution, despite voting against it in 1987, before unlawful moves for CHACHA, PIRMA and PI by GMA and Speaker de Venecia.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he summoned PCGG officials and jailed Chairman Sabio who refused to be investigated for corruption and mismanaging ill-gotten wealth that they were supposed to retrieve and protect.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he grilled Abalos at the Senate hearings where his litigation style of questioning unmasked the earlier grinning and sheepish former COMELEC Chair to admit that at the height of election period for the May 2007 mid-term elections he traveled on many occasions to China to play golf with ZTE executives.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he debated for four years with his colleagues to pass the Automated Election System law to ensure the sanctity of our votes and for our electoral system to modernize and become at par with democracies like the United States and India where results are decided immediately the next day. He still remained arrogant in pushing the COMELEC to implement the law ASAP and have the budget that now in May 2010 we will finally have automated elections.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when even while on vacation in the US in 2007 he went to the Senate and House of Representatives in Capitol Hill to lobby for the Americans to settle and pay their Debt of Honor to World War II Filipino Veterans that fought and died side by side with American soldiers. He remained arrogant when he authored, pushed and had the Veterans Benefits Act signed into law by GMA that the US Senate voted their counterpart measure 94-1 and the new Obama administration included US$198 Mil Fil-Am Veterans Benefits in the impetus bill.

Dick Gordon was arrogant not to join GMA in an official trip to the US in 2008 and instead flew to Iloilo to lead rescue and relief efforts for typhoon Frank victims in Panay island and Negros island in the Visayas and Cotabato in Mindanao.

Dick Gordon was arrogant as Blue Ribbon Committee Chair that in the Fertilizer Scam he jailed JocJoc Bolante in the Senate on Christmas and Paule in the Pasay City jail and in less than 18 months when he continued pending investigations that took years, came up with a report, recommendations for laws needed and the filling of charges to perpetrators of the Fertilizer Scam and the NBN-ZTE deal including concerned members of the Cabinet, the President and the First Gentlemen in 2009. He remains arrogant and wants the Ombudsman elected as it has been corrupted many times over and JocJoc Bolante is still free and now running for Governor in Capiz while GMA is running for Congress in her hometown and maybe immune from suit in the future.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he had more equipment and rubber boats than the government and NDCC to lead rescue and relief at the height of Ondoy and once again commandeered a US Marine force to refocus from joint training exercises to humanitarian missions with Red Cross and Coast Guard in rescue and relief effort for typhoon Pepeng flood victims in Pangasinan, La Union and Benguet.

Dick Gordon was arrogant when he stood up in the joint session of Congress to question the validity of GMA’s declaration of Martial Law in Maguindanao and the issuance of firearms and ammunition by the DND to para-military forces under the Ampatuans in said area.

Dick Gordon was arrogant even on Christmas when Mt. Mayon erupted and the MV/Baleno sunk of the port of Batangas that he investigated the concerned shipping and maritime agencies who’s mismanagement yet caused another disaster in 2009.

Dick Gordon was arrogant during the last days of the 14th Congress this year when he asked colleague Manny Villar to be interpolated to defend himself on the C-5 controversy. He remains arrogant in challenging Villar to a debate after the latter left the Senate Session Hall refusing to answer questions from colleagues.

We must not therefore find fault and castigate Dick Gordon for being arrogant. It is about time that we elect him as president for with such passion throughout the years and with such measure of arrogance he will cope with the myriad challenges of a thankless job of leading our country and putting fire in our bellies to be a nation able to compete with the rest of the world proving that only he has what it takes to stomach and overcome the relentless social, political and economic corrupt system we are in.