November 3-5,2010
EU Parliamentarian Relies on Liberals
to Push for Reforms
 Dr.
Wolf Klinz with Liberal Party of the Philippines Director-General
Chito Gascon and the CALD Secretariat |
Member of the European Parliament Dr. Wolf Klinz, on his visit
to Manila on November 3-5, 2010, expressed confidence that the
Liberal Party of the Philippines
(LP) has the
capacity to push for reforms in
the country particularly by using its position as the party in
power.
In a meeting at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty
(FNF) in Makati City, Dr. Klinz discussed citizens’ engagement
with LP Director-General Atty. Chito Gascon. “LP has an
important role in educating the people about
the benefits of a system that is based on true democracy,
transparency, and accountability,” said Dr. Klinz.
Dr. Klinz is with the Freie
Demokratische Partei (FDP) that is part of the Alliance
of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European
Parliament. He is the Chair of Special Committee on the Financial,
Economic and Social Crisis.
 Dr.
Wolf Klinz |
“Dr. Klinz is a very experienced parliamentarian. We appreciate
his confidence in the capacity of Filipino Liberals to ultimately
promote a sustainable governance agenda,” stated Atty. Gascon.
“He shares our belief that party building should be prioritized,
and that we should vigorously encourage students, youth, and young
professionals to participate in our party processes in order to
promote a successor generation of leaders that will continue the
reforms,” Atty. Gascon added.
Dr. Klinz also met with FNF Philippines Country Director Jules
Maaten. Mr. Maaten enumerated the projects that FNF Philippines
has undertaken to advance the principles of participatory democracy,
human rights and the rule of law, and market economy in the country.
"Dr Klinz's visit to Manila is of importance, as there is
a real need for Europe and the Philippines to work more energetically
with each other both on trade issues and on political
issues such as promoting good governance and
fighting corruption,” shared Mr. Maaten who is
also a former member of the European Parliament. "It his
good that Wolf Klinz made a special effort to engage with Filipino
Liberals."
Similarly, the Secretariat of the Council
of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) briefed Dr. Klinz on
the nature of their work. “Dr. Klinz sees CALD as a mechanism
to institutionalize and strengthen political parties
in a region characterized by patron-client relations and machine
politics,” said CALD Executive Director Lito Arlegue.
Dr. Klinz was part of the European Parliament Delegation that
was in Manila for a three-day visit. The group met with heads
of Philippine institutions, among whom was Chairwoman Etta Rosales
of the Commission on Human Rights
(CHR).
Dr. Wolf Klinz, LP Director-General Chito Gascon with FNF Staff
and CALD Secretariat
