“IT’S OUR job to paint the town red.”

Never mind that there are only a few days before elections; Dick Gordon’s supporters here in the Ateneo remain steadfast in their battle cry – Gordon for President. Clad in red, they have united under the banner group ‘Ateneans for Dick Gordon’, an Ateneo Task Force initiative that was created with the help of fervent Gordon supporter, junior Agnetha Ayson.

Katipunan campaign

It’s a group with a database of more than a hundred Atenean and non-Atenean supporters, all involved with promoting Gordon’s presidential aspirations in the Loyola Heights area.

“We’re here for undecided voters to see that there’s a visible campaign for Gordon,” Agnetha says.

Volunteers of Ateneans for Dick Gordon give out stickers, flyers, posters, ballers and fans to voters in Loyola Heights. Inside the Ateneo, they busy themselves with room-to-room campaigns and other promotional gimmicks. This week, they have set up a booth in the Doghouse to accommodate Gordon supporters and undecided voters – proof that their campaign trail is still blazing hot red, despite constraints on time.

Convincing the undecided

“We do personal communication with undecided voters to convince them to vote for Gordon,” says Geru Gotico, an Ateneo alumnus who himself was only recently convinced that Gordon deserves his vote.

Support has been relatively strong for the Gordon ticket, but Ayson says the lack of funds has been hitting the campaign hard. “If you want your own Gordon-Bayani shirt, you have to paint it on your own,” says a Gordon supporter.

Members of Ateneans for Dick Gordon however, have long learned how to be resourceful on their own. They create their own pins and shell out personal money to have shirts created. All this in the name of their battle cry – Gordon for President.

Says Geru, “It’s never too late to campaign for someone I believe in. And that’s what we’re doing – we’re doing our best to campaign for Dick Gordon, because we believe in him.”