Gordon eyeing public office anew

MANILA, Philippines - Former senator Richard Gordon is thinking of running for public office in the elections in 2016, but he is still deciding whether for senator or president.

“I still have until October to make up my mind,” Gordon, chair of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), told The STAR yesterday.

“You have a President now that became president because his mother died about this month (in 2009, less than a year before the 2010 presidential elections),” he added.

Gordon said many of his friends and acquaintances who want reforms and inspired leadership from the next president have been asking him about his plans.

“I get that every day, every moment, every time I see a friend,” he added.

He also said some of his friends say he should run for president, while some, who want a sure win for him, want him to run again for senator.

“Deep down inside, they know (I’m) the most logical (candidate for president), the most hard-working, the most with a track record,” he added.

Gordon was credited for the Subic Bay Freeport miracle after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991.

Gordon, then mayor of Olongapo City, along with about 2,000 volunteers, had taken charge of the Subic Bay naval facility that was abandoned by US servicemen after the Mount Pinatubo eruption brought an apocalyptic ash fall that severely inundated Olongapo City and the rest of Zambales.

Without salaries, Gordon and the volunteers guarded the abandoned facilities and the homes of departing American servicemen, making sure there would be no looting despite the misery and chaos in the aftermath of the volcanic eruption.

Gordon then successfully led a lobby to turn Subic Bay from a military camp into a free port. He was also successful in establishing Subic Bay Freeport into a bustling economic zone.

While he was leading the PRC in major accomplishments and achievements, Gordon admitted that when he ran for vice president and lost, frustration prevented him from doing bigger things.