Why I’m voting for Dick Gordon

With the May 9 elections just around the corner, I know exactly whom I will vote for among the senatorial candidates. First on my list is Bagumbayan Party’s Richard “Dick” Gordon. Why will  I vote for him? Certainly not merely because he is a close friend, but for his brand of leadership and  exemplary accomplishments in public service.

Dick’s name has become synonymous with the Philippine Red Cross. When he first became chairman of the PRC in 2004, the organization was known mostly for its blood services. It also provided humanitarian assistance, like relief distribution then, but not to the level that it can do so now. Under Dick’s leadership, the PRC really became stronger and turned into one of the world’s foremost humanitarian organizations.

Modernizing and strengthening PRC’s disaster response and management capability was Dick’s goal when he devised the formula: Volunteers + Logistics + Information Technology = a Red Cross that is Always First, Always Ready, Always There!

Looking at the Red Cross now, you can indeed see that whenever a disaster strikes in any part of the country, the Philippine Red Cross is there to extend humanitarian assistance. Having chapters and volunteers all over the country enables the PRC to do this.

Dick has ensured that the PRC has an arsenal of disaster response and management equipment and vehicles so that it could respond to all kinds of disasters. But for all the PRC’s successful venture into other aspects of humanitarian service, Dick also made sure that its blood services was also improved. Now the PRC provides 52 percent of the country’s total blood requirements, ensuring the availability of safe and quality blood by opening state-of-the-art blood centers in different regions of the country.

With Dick at the helm of the PRC, it has become one of the strongest and most respected national societies in the world. It is the only Red Cross society that has its own fire department. With 124 ambulances nationwide, Red Cross fire trucks responding to fire incidents are always accompanied by ambulances so that people injured in fires can avail of immediate treatment. It is also the only organization that provides free ambulance services to people in need but cannot afford to pay for the services.

The PRC also boasts of having a fleet of sea and land rescue vehicles. During earthquakes, it has trucks that are installed with equipment and gadgets to clear rubbles from collapsed structures and determine if there are victims who are buried alive underneath. Who can forget the amphibian boats used to ferry stranded passengers when Metro Manila and nearby provinces were inundated by Habagat rains in 2012? The PRC has two of those, aside from different kinds of rescue boats.

And recently through Dick’s prodding, it has acquired a ship that could be used for multi-purposes such as transporting vehicles, tractors, pay loaders and various equipment to disaster-hit areas. The ship, which will be here by July or August, can dock on beaches when ports are damaged, a major consideration for the Red Cross following its Yolanda experience when it took four days before its staff and volunteers could bring humanitarian assistance to the affected provinces.

Under Dick’s leadership too, the PRC has built a total of 139,815 houses since 2005 for people rendered homeless by the various disasters that hit the country in the past decade. Of the total houses, 73,396 of them as of April 22 were built for Yolanda-affected families. The PRC has also built classrooms, health facilities including hand-wash bowls with clear and clean water in schools,  and provided livelihood assistance.

Dick also created a state-of-the-art operations center that serves as the control hub during disaster operations.

If making the Philippine Red Cross into what it is today and being of service to his fellow Filipinos at all times are not enough reasons to elect Dick, his track record in the various government posts that he had assumed will make one think twice about not voting for him.

As mayor of Olongapo, Dick was idolized by the mayors of other municipalities and cities because he was able to turn what was previously tagged as “Sin City” into a model city. Under his leadership, Olongapo’s residents became disciplined, and save-the-city conscious. The programs that he implemented were duplicated in other cities and provinces.

When the Americans were forced to leave the US Naval Base in Subic, Dick fought to get the authority to operate the abandoned naval base into a Freeport. Again under his leadership, the venture became the country’s first successful bases conversion attempt which gained worldwide acclamation.  It provided 200,000 jobs not only for the people of Olongapo but also for people from other provinces as well.

Dick also left a legacy in the Department of Tourism, ensuring the growth of domestic tourism and international tourism, as well, despite the natural and man-made threats that could have crippled, if not killed, the tourism industry during his stint as DOT secretary.  Without the billions of budget enjoyed by the department today, Dick was able to put the country in the world’s tourism map through his “WOW Philippines” program. Dick came up with the original slogan without having to pay a single cent for it.

Dick is also skilled as a legislator, having been one of the most prolific and most brilliant senators during the 13th and 14th Congress. He authored and sponsored numerous bills, a great number of which were enacted into laws. Dick’s bills that were signed into law include: the Amended Automated Elections System Law, the Food Donation Act, the Tourism Act of 2009, the SSS Condonation Law, the Free Patent Law, and the Freeport Area of Bataan Act of 2009, among others. As chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Dick also ensured that appropriate recommendations were submitted after the investigations he conducted.

I can’t think of any other senatorial candidate having similar or better accomplishments. With Dick’s track record, proven leadership and other qualities, we should vote him No. One in our list of senatorial candidates on  May 9, which is just 11 days away.

My email: [email protected]