Dick's Political Stunt

Comment from a reader on Dick Gordon's abuse of power for his own political purposes:

DICK GORDON, YOU NEED A DOSE OF REALITY!

To think the deluge of volunteerism support and the "Bayanihan" spirit of the Filipino has somewhat made me believe that this country is indeed worth fighting for, but then someone destroys it for me.

Here's my story.... On September 30, 2009, our company decided to volunteer with various efforts around the Metro as a genuine act of helping out those who have been ravaged by Typhoon Ondoy. I was placed under the group to support the mission of the Philippine Red Cross in Quezon City.

Call time was at 8 am sharp and we got to the Evacuation center by Novaliches at around 10 am.

As we were briefed what to do, we also initiated a system to keep things in order because of the number of people. At around 10:45 we were ready and so was everyone else because they've been there since the early part of the morning but we were informed by one of the Philippine Red Cross staff on site, we could not give out the goods yet because "protocol" dictates that the Philippine Red Cross Chairman, Mr. Dick Gordon was going to visit and deliver some sort of speech or at least be the one to hand out the goods.

We were informed by a certain Ms. Torres that this was how it goes... we reasoned out with her that the people were lined up already and OBVIOUSLY hungry waiting for so many hours as it was. We also asked if the goods were from MR. GORDON and we were told it was donations to the Red Cross. So we hinted…. we can give it then!

But wait we did, by around noon, no word from the DICK and people were getting rowdy saying "Ibigay nyo na! (Give it already!) The number of people was increasing and we knew the goods provided to us would be gone in an instant. It was only a small container van of Air 21 that housed the goods and I'd approximate there were at least a 1,000 people on site.

At this point, my fellow colleagues were exasperated at what was going on. WE COULD STAY THERE the whole day to help out and make sure the people there would at least be spared from any further hurt (if losing a house wasn't hurtful enough) by doing something significant, instead we were made to wait doing nothing just because someone wanted to use the program for his political gain.. I mean, the bag only contained rice, canned goods and noodles… would it be so DIFFICULT to give this away already??!!!

To make matters worse, we were wearing our company's shirts… so it looked like WE WERE THE ONES DELAYING the damn operation.

The Barangay Captain got a hold of the mic and told the people "Maswerte tayo na tayo ang pinuntahang Barangay, hinihintay lang natin ang mga panauhin natin, kaya't wag kayong mag tampo" (We're lucky to be the Barangay that will be visited, we're just waiting for our guests, so don't fret).

At almost 2 pm, I don't know what happened but the Brgy. Captain suddenly asked all Senior citizens and pregnant women to make a new line (from the original lines) and then he started to instruct us to give out the goods… and that's when all hell broke loose. Obviously the people in the original line weren't too happy with the situation… even if… the idea was noble.

In the end, the stubs to claim the relief goods were more than the relief goods themselves… and I could see a lot of upset people at what had just happened….

oh and the clincher of it all….. DICK MOTHER (*@#$! %^) GORDON DID NOT SHOW UP AT ALL.

He wanted this obviously to be a POLITICAL event for him and then decided that maybe it wasn't worth showing up for after all.

I can't believe that a time like this when ORDINARY people are coming together, POLITICIANS REMAIN THE SAME… AND I can only PRAY MR. GORDON that you be granted some sort of WISDOM (OR BALLS) to DECIDE WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO DO. Don't go on making PROTOCOLS that are STUPID AND INANE especially in times like this…. people have lost their loved ones, their houses, basically everything they have and you still have the GALL to use this to YOUR Advantage.

Believe me, if you ever run for office, I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR YOU and I hope everyone who sees this blog does the same thing. It's funny a week ago on ANC you told viewers that the reason why we're in a rut is because our government does not have a CLEAR SYSTEM…. so please EXPOUND to me how your PROTOCOL of overseeing the distribution of relief goods was more of SYSTEM rather than a POLITICAL STUNT.

DICK. I honestly believe your name suits you quite well.