In the 2004 national elections when he ran as senator of the Philippines, despite the initial low public opinion surveys, Gordon won and received the fifth highest number of votes from the electorate even without sectoral and religious command vote support. Filipinos warmly received his very positive personality and track record of achievements.
He passed the very first law in the 13th Congress, Republic Act No. 9333, fixing the regular elections at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and several other important laws, including Republic Act No. 9369, the New Automated Election System law; Republic Act No. 9334, the Sin Tax Law, Republic Act Nos. 9399 and 9400, fixing the tax regime in Special Economic Zones and Freeports in Clark in Pampanga, Poro Point in La Union; and John Hay in Baguio; Republic Act No. 9346, the abolition of the death penalty law; and Republic Act No. 9367, the Biofuels Act of 2007.
Furthermore, as Chairman of the Senate Committee of Constitutional Amendements and Revision of Laws, he upheld the supremacy of the Constitution at all times. Though he may not have voted for the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, he took an oath to preserve and defend it. He insisted on the lawful process of charter change only according to the process set forth in the Constitution. He opposed the unconstitutional People’s Initiative and was one of the triumphant parties in the case of Lambino and Aumentado vs. COMELEC, G.R. No. 174153, October 25, 2006.
He also preserved the separation of powers in government and asserted the Senate’s constitutional right and duty to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation against Executive Order No. 464 in Senate, et al. vs. Ermita, G.R. No. 169777, April 20, 2006, and Executive Order No. 1 in Sabio vs. Gordon, et al., G.R. No. 174340, October 17, 2006.
In 2001, he transformed the moribund Philippines Tourism industry: plagued by a negative image of kidnappings and SARS disease and complicated by an era of continued threat of terrorism. As Secretary of Tourism he accomplished this with his campaign: "WOW Philippines! More than the usual!" This resulted to increased tourist arrivals that rejuvenated the industry, becoming the country’s acknowledged fastest way to address poverty and unemployment. In addition, in his capacity as World Tourism Organization (WTO) Commissioner for East Asia and the Pacific in 2002 and Chair of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for 2003, he became the chief advocate of Third World countries that have been unduly affected in tourism and trade by unfair Travel Advisories imposed by Western governments.
In 1992, he led the successful conversion of the former United States’ naval facility in Subic Bay. He turned it into the Philippines’ primary trade zone. This was when the Philippine Senate rejected a treaty extension ending a century of US military presence in the country. He lobbied in Congress for the passage of a bill he drafted based on an old plan to convert the American naval and air force facilities in Subic and Clark respectively into economic enclaves by the creation of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).
As 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 Acer Computers and France’s Thompson Audio. More than 90,000 jobs were created under his leadership.
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