Remembering Amelia Gordon
FORMER OLONGAPO Mayor Amelia Gordon
Today, Sept. 4, is the birthday of Olongapo’s first woman mayor and Pearls S. Buck International awardee Amelia J. Gordon whose humanitarian service had touched numerous lives and served as inspiration to other social workers.
Founder of the Olongapo chapter of the Philippine National Red Cross, Amelia Gordon was the mother of Senator Richard Gordon and former Mayor James Gordon, Jr. She was elected mayor in 1969 following the assassination of her husband James Sr. who fought for Olongapo’s independence from the Americans and was responsible for its cityhood in 1966.
During her term, the Vietnam War was at its height which saw thousands of Amercian sailors descend to Olongapo for rest and recreation. Feisty and strong-willed yet with a caring heart for the marginalized sector, the Gordon matriarch managed to maintain the city’s peace and order and kept criminal syndicates at bay while building a boy’s and girl’s home for orphaned and abandoned children. She also undertook a massie housing development program that decongested the city and benefited its ballooning population.
In 1984 after serving as mayor, Amelia Gordon was elected Assemblywoman to the Batasan Pambansa. Retiring later from politics, she continued being an active Red Cross volunteer spearheading blood donation programs, helping the needy and victims of disasters.
For her meritorious work and achievements, Gordon joined the ranks of former US First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Corazon Aquino by being chosen as Pearls S. Buck International Woman of the Year in 2002.
She was also accorded the Silver Humanitarian Service Cross Award by the American National Red Cross and the Gold Humanitarian Service Cross Award by the Philippine National Red Cross.
Ms. Gordon was likewise a Gintong Ina Awardee, a Dona Aurora Aragon Quezon Medal awardee and a recipient of the Philippine Centennial Commission Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award.