James Leonard Tagle Gordon
On February 20 this year, Olongapo celebrates the 54th death anniversary of its founding father, the man who championed freedom and justice, and who persevered until his untimely death to pursue his dream and his vision.
As the city faces political, social, and economic challenges today, the memory of James Leonard Tagle Gordon and how he courageously fought injustices and strived for the improvement of the welfare of the people and the city he loved lingers on.
On July 4, 1946, when the Philippines became an independent nation, what was notably peculiar was Olongapo, with its 9,000 or so residents, remained a military reservation and under the control and administration of the United States Navy. This rather odd thing in itself remained for the next 12 years that followed and was the political backdrop that saw the emergence of a courageous warrior and an esteemed leader in this part of the archipelago.
Events that transpired in this Olongapo since that turnover eventually shaped the political career of James Leonard Gordon, who became the first elected municipal mayor and first elected city mayor, and considered as the founding father of Olongapo City until his death by an assassin’s bullet in 1967.
One of the many distinct things about Gordon and one that stands out the most was while seeking to be a citizen of the United States of America was a most sought-after option for the majority of Filipinos, he, who was already an American by birthright, chose to be a Filipino.
He also strongly opposed the set up where the Americans enjoy full control and administration of the Filipino community inside the military reservation.
Award-winning Chronicle reporter Jose C. Balein aptly described the situation at that time, “Olongapo during this period was in a sort of limbo, a Philippine territory under the US jurisdiction, where Filipinos could be deported without due process of law, where their homes and lots could be taken from them anytime the US Navy needed it, where they had to pay excessive taxes and became victims of discrimination and favoritism, and even subjected to humiliating searches going in and out of the reservation. A place where there was compulsory labor rendered by Filipinos every week, who needed to pay a waiver fee if one wants to avoid this
“The Residence Certificate, a Filipino citizen’s credential, is worth nothing here and was a mere scrap of paper. As a Filipino, you needed to shell out cash to have an identification card issued by the Americans, the amount of which depended on the length of your stay in the reservation.”
Gordon was in the middle of all these restraints to freedom and self-governance affecting Olongapo residents and fought to ease the fears among the people and to rectify the wrong perception of liberty.
His efforts and courageous stand, coupled with his desire to improve the lot of the Olongapo folks in the military reservation, eventually resulted in the military naval reservation finally being turned over to the Philippine government in 1959.
Olongapo became a municipality afterward but the presence of the biggest military base outside of the United States here attracted more people from all walks of life eager to partake of the presence of military dollars and economic opportunities in the booming municipality.
Indeed, it was both a boon and a bane as the presence of the adjacent huge naval base attracted more people to move to the town, rapidly increasing its population and, as a consequence, the social ills that followed.
With the powers that be at the time making sure they got their own people appointed to be at the helm of the new municipality, elections did not take place.
Although disappointed at the turn of events, and realizing his dream for a better community seemed headed for naught, Gordon continued his crusade, exposing corruption and other illegal activities, in the process earning the ire of those in power and those interests benefited from the shady and illegal activities that abounded in the town.
They tried to prevent him from running for mayor questioning his citizenship but Gordon has proved more than once he was more Filipino in his behavior than American by birth and won convincingly to become the first elected mayor of the newly created town.
There were many efforts to sabotage his administration and put him down but Gordon’s performance in office overshadowed all their attempts and to top it all, was still able to lobby for the passage of a law that converted Olongapo from a municipality into a chartered city.
The mayor continued in his efforts to transform Olongapo into a community he envisioned it to be, while managing to escape two attempts on his life.
Political enemies and those whose interests were affected by the reforms he was implementing for the city were determined to stop Gordon and on that the fateful morning of February 20, 1067, an assassin fired at the mayor in the lobby of City Hall cutting short the life of a man whose only guilt was perhaps in fighting against injustice and evil and trying to shape a better future for Olongapo.