Muslim group recognizes Gordon's efforts for Muslim community

In recognition of his efforts for Filipino Muslims, Senator Richard J. Gordon (Ind.) was honored by a group of Muslim leaders and professionals during the First Metro Manila Muslim Leader Tripartite Conference.

The Markazzoshabab Al-Muslim Fil-Filibbin, in coordination with the Office on Muslim Affairs-National Capital Region (OMA-NCR) and the Liwanag Forum, honored Gordon for his courageous sense of justice and fairness towards the Filipino Muslims as manifested by his noble advocacy of promoting the rightful recognition of the indigenous heritage and societal contributions of Filipino Muslims in the country.

In accepting the award, Gordon stressed that everyone should make an effort to try to respect, understand and accept each other to forge unity among Filipinos, regardless of race, religion or belief.

"I simply would like to reiterate the importance of respect, understanding and acceptance to attain peace. To my mind, this conference and this gift of honor you have given me are manifestations of our effort to bridge the gaps in our country," Gordon said.

Director Camad Edres, head of the OMA-NCR, said that Gordon deserves such recognition for his advocacies, such as the Lapu-Lapu holiday and the ninth ray of the sun in the flag, which he courageously defended and pursued despite criticisms from other sectors.

"In the Philippines, if you feel that the issue is not in your favor, then you try to veer away from it. One of the issues quite controversial is the contributions of the Muslims in this country.. We are honoring Sen. Gordon because of his advocacy which is quite uncommon among our national leaders," Edres said.

"As far as I'm concerned, he is the first national official to recognize one of our national heroes, Lapu-Lapu, to be a Muslim. Our honoree has also been advocating for the inclusion of one ray of the sun in the Philippine flag symbolizing that the Muslims had significant accomplishments in this country," he added.

Gordon also fought to place the 40-foot Lapu-Lapu statue, a gift from the Koreans, in Bagumbayan or Luneta to in recognition of Lapu-Lapu's role as the first Asian to beat the colonial invaders.

Moreover, the senator spearheaded projects aimed to develop Mindanao . One of these projects is the Fruits of Hope, which provided better profits for fruit farmers of Sulu, Basilan, North Cotabato and other parts of Mindanao when their harvest were flown to Manila where they were picked up by two supermarket chains.

Gordon also pushed for the automation of the August 2008 election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which was the first peaceful, speedy and orderly elections in ARMM where there were no election protests arising from the exercise.

Furthermore, the senator is pushing for the establishment of an Islamic Cultural Museum within Intramuros that would showcase the rich history and culture of Filipino Muslims in the country. He is also planning to file a bill that would require schools to teach the history of Muslims and other cultures and religions in the country during Pre-Hispanic period.