February 10, 2011

Christian-Democrats Bow to Liberal Party Politics

Lakas-KAMPI-CMD Secretary-General Francis Manglapus commended the liberal policies being implemented by Philippine President Benigno Aquino. He acknowledged that the government’s agenda were consistent with the Liberal Party (LP) platform. Aquino is the Chairman of LP.

Lakas-KAMPI-CMD is the result of the merger of the party of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo KAMPI and the Christian-Muslim-Democrats (CMD).

Manglapus stressed that party platforms matter. “I’m glad to see that under this administration of President Aquino, they are actually coming up with policies that are really liberal in nature. They are taking very difficult positions like the MRT rates where they try to get more free market into the economy.” The government currently subsidizes the operation expenses Metro Rail Transit (MRT). It has proposed fare increase to cut down state subsidies, but a huge number of protests delay its implementation.

Manglapus also lauded the move to raise toll fees and other public-private partnerships efforts, which he labeled as exemplary programs that are party-based. He refuted that politics is merely personality-based and applauded the LP for practicing real party politics.

Lakas and LP represented by its Director-General Chito Gascon were at a forum to react to a study on Political Parties Performance and Stability by the Political Democracy and Reforms (PODER) Team of the Ateneo School of Government and sponsored by Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF), a German liberal political foundation. They were also joined by Akbayan’s Acting President Macris Cabreros. Akbayan that represents the social-democrats, is one of the five parties covered by PODER’s study. “It can take a long time for a new democracy to develop into a stable political party system. This forum was organized so that we can begin to build more functional parties that are principled, and operate in a transparent way,” said Jules Maaten, FNF Country Director. More than 130 participants took part in the meeting, making it the largest of its kind on this topic.

The study measured the parties’ functioning through a research model developed by Dr. Wolfgang Sachsenroeder of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS). The organizational structure that considered management and finance, democratizing processes, and external relations were assessed. Performance was gauged by coalitional capability, effectiveness of strategies, contributions to nation’s progress, and track record in political reform.

Proposals to reform political parties were wide-range. "Political parties are institutions with a role to bridge the government and its people. We want to enjoin civil society to participate in this task. We aspire to build a party that is not only composed mainly of politicians, but is also mass-based," asserted Gascon. "LP has been undertaking efforts to dispel the misimpression that it is only composed of political elites. Its forming a coalition with Akbayan is one instance that confirms its commitment to reforms in both its platform of governance and political direction," he added. Gascon also encouraged all party-list groups to "begin a comprehensive program to cross-over to mainstream politics by fielding candidates in other elections beyond the party-list system such as the Akbayan experience for the Senate bid of Risa Hontiveros." "They should open up to transparency and accountability mechanisms, and break down the walls of their comfort zone. This way, we can move from a two-tiered system that divides mainstream from non-mainstream parties to a single multi-party system that is representative and participatory across the entire political spectrum," challenged Gascon.

Carlos Medina, Lente

The civil society and media also offered proposals to make political parties more engaging and effective. Atty. Carlos Medina, co-convenor of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente), an elections watchdog, and who is also shortlisted to become a commissioner in the Commission on Elections (Comelec), suggested that political parties and civil societies should be able to share resources even more during elections. He shared that Lente gets requests from political parties for data and other information, and to guard votes. “We want to help, but how do we help? We fear of association with political parties or we risk our impartiality of being questioned,” said Medina. He proposed that Comelec comes up with a system for alternative dispute resolutions where political parties can discuss issues among themselves, and which could declog Comelec cases. He also recommended that watchdogs be allowed to pursue cases on behalf of the parties. “Political parties are part of the problem, but they are also part of the solution. We should cross party lines, have a catch-all group, and enter into a coalition for all for more credible and accountable elections,” added Medina.

Glenda Gloria, Newsbreak

Glenda Gloria, Executive Director of the online magazine Newsbreak, accentuated that “the rules of engagement with the public have tremendously changed, and political parties have no choice left but to live with these changes and see how these could work to their advantage.” “Because of the exposure to the good and bad things around the world, Filipinos have, over the years, become more demanding of their governments, more discerning toward issues that directly affect them, more discriminating in their political taste, and, more importantly, more empowered by the menu of choices that they now have. We have a public that no longer appreciates one-way conversations, a public that’s opinionated and wants to be heard, a public you could no longer easily fool because they could already check your claims and facts by the click of their fingers. Rather than be intimated, political parties should in fact embrace these virtual public spaces as easy and creative avenues for growth and education,” urged Gloria.

Emil Kirjas, Liberal International

Liberal International (LI) Secretary General Emil Kirjas, who is based in London and was in Manila to formally announce the LI Congress to take place in the Philippines on June 16-20, 2011, talked about accountability and responsibility, and human rights and the rule of law, as principles that political parties should practice internally in their organizations. He appreciated the timing of the forum. “In other countries, this kind of discussions only occurs when elections are near as an effort of political parties to make their presence known. That this discussion is happening shortly after the elections shows that the Philippines is more mature than other states. There is the desire to improve the system as early as now in time for the next elections,” remarked Kirjas.

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