RICHARD GORDON PROFILE!

Richard Gordon was born on August 5, 1945 in Castillejos, Zambales. He is the son of James L. Gordon, the first elected municipal mayor of Olongapo and Amelia J. Gordon, the first elected city mayor of Olongapo. He is married to current Olongapo City Mayor, Kate H. Gordon and they have four children: Marnie, Ali, LJ and Brian.

He completed his elementary education at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila and his secondary education at the Ateneo de Manila University. He graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in History and Government from the Ateneo de Manila University. He finished from the University of the Philippines, College of Law in 1975. He worked as Brand Manager for Procter and Gamble (Philippines) from 1966 to 1967. He was dubbed as the youngest delegate to the Constitutional Convention of the Philippines. In 1974, he became Director of Kong Commercial Philippines. He was also an associate at the ACCRA Law Office from 1975-1979

Being influenced by parents who were both politicians, it was inevitable that Dick also ventured into politics. He ran for the mayoralty of Olongapo city in 1980 and won. He served as city mayor of Olongapo from1980-1986 and was re-elected in 1988 and served until June 30, 1993.

In 1992, he led the conversion of the United States' naval facility in Subic bay into a free port zone. The project was envisioned in 1971 and together with the people of Olongapo, was realized in 1992.

As Secretary of Tourism in 2001, he transformed the Philippine Tourism Industry by launching WOW Philippines! More than the Usual! campaign which resulted to more tourists and more earnings for the Filipinos.

As the founding Chair and Administrator of the SBMA, he inspired an army of 8,000 volunteers who protected and preserved the U.S.$ 8 billion facility. Together with the volunteers, he successfully transformed Subic into a premier investment hub that hosted the 4th APEC Leaders Summit in 1996. By the time he left in 1998, SBMA had over 300 investors including notable American companies: Federal Express, Coastal Petroleum and Enron. It even had British firms, BICC Cables and Shell Exploration as well as Taiwan’s (formosa) Acer Computers and France’s Thompson Audio. More than 90,000 jobs were created under his leadership works.

INTRIGA TRIVIA;
SIYA ANG NAGPAUSO NG EXPRESSION NA "WOW PHILIPPINES!"

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