Seizing teachable moments

Feb. 22, Pangasinan

12:30 p.m. - From San Carlos City, the convoy of Sen. Richard ?Dick? Gordon and Bayani Fernando goes to Manaoag. They eat lunch in Mang Inasal at the local Magic Mall. Before proceeding to their table, they go around to shake hands and have photos with other customers. Gordon and Fernando sit together at a table, eat grilled chicken with their hands, and talk with a local official. Gordon grants an interview while eating. He then goes up the two-story mall to campaign.

2 p.m.- The Bagumbayan running mates enter the Our Lady of Manaoag Shrine. Gordon stays behind to accommodate requests for photos from people who have gathered at the gate. Gordon then enters the church, kneels before the altar, keeps quiet for two minutes, and leaves. He goes into a shop and comes across Fernando who is already on his way out.

4 p.m.- Gordon and Fernando arrive at the Urdaneta City Hall after a motorcade under a sweltering heat. They spend almost half an hour talking with city Mayor Amado Perez Jr., a Nationalist People?s Coalition member, in his air-conditioned office. Gordon tells him that voters are getting to be smart, adding: ?They?ve been watching TV debates and they tell me I?ve done well.?

4:45 p.m.- At the city?s public market, a man hits Gordon for some money in jest. Gordon quips back: ?Wala akong kilalang taga-Pangasinan na mukhang pera. Kung bibigyan kita ng pera, nanakawan kita pagkatapos. Gusto mo ba yun? (I don?t know anyone from Pangasinan who is obsessed with money. If I give you money now, I?ll later get it back by stealing. Would you like that?)?

5:45 p.m.- Gordon and Fernando get into their respective personal vehicles to go to another public market in the neighboring town of Villasis.

6 p.m.- The motorcade jams traffic in the area. Gordon and Fernando transfer to an open pick-up truck. The ?Optimus Prime? truck Fernando designed precedes the pick-up, blaring in what sounds like a robot?s voice the names of Gordon and Fernando repeatedly. Gordon suddenly decides to get off the pick-up truck upon seeing a house with presidential bet Manny Villar?s huge banner. He approaches the occupants and personally hands them his own posters.

7 p.m.- After going around the wholesale market in Villasis, Gordon heads for home in Olongapo City. His Chevrolet Suburban stops at a gasoline station for fuel. Gordon gets out of his car to talk to the people. His staff members and official photographers frantically get off their vehicles to follow him.

9:15 p.m.- Gordon, along with his campaign staff, eats a dinner of mussels, dried milkfish, a few slices of crispy pata (pork knuckles), but no rice. He grants another interview to a reporter over dinner.

10:15 p.m.- Gordon spends a few minutes with his campaign staff for a ?post-mortem? discussion: How did the day?s campaign go? What went wrong? What needs improvement?

Feb. 23, Bataan

8:30 a.m.- Gordon leaves Olongapo City for Bataan. He tells a reporter he sleeps for only four hours and gets up at 6 a.m. to read newspapers and answer e-mail. Today he will speak in at least four colleges in Bataan.

10:30 a.m.- Gordon arrives at Bataan Peninsula State University (BPSU) in Balanga. Fernando is already there. Gordon surprises some 300 students when he interrupts a student reading her question. Gordon tells her to try asking her question without reading her notes. The student does so and the crowd cheers.

1 p.m.- Gordon and Fernando eat lunch at a local restaurant as local reporters interview them. They then visit the BPSU campuses in Orani and Dinalupihan, as well as Tomas del Rosario College in Balanga. Bataan Rep. Albert Garcia, an administration candidate, drops in to say hi. He says it was Gordon who co-authored the law that created a freeport in Mariveles.