It's All About Freedom Liberal Foundation kicks off anniversary programs
Liberal leaders from all over the world were present as the Friedrich
Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) Philippines launched
its programs to celebrate its 25th year in the country.
The three deputy speakers of the House of Representatives, who
are members of the Liberal
Party of the Philippines (LP) attended the event. Representatives
Erin Tanada, Beng Climaco, and Raul Daza who
from the beginning has been involved with the work of the Foundation,
joined partners and friends in celebrating the 25th Anniversary
of the Foundation on 19 June 2011 at the
Ayala Museum.
FNF Philippines formally opened the nominations for
The Liberal Project. The program aims to recognize liberal
initiatives that have transpired in the country in 2010-2011.
It is a search for local “projects” that uphold democracy,
promote good governance, further human rights, advance free trade,
and teach freedom and responsibility. A teaser video
on the Freedom Speech was also presented. President
Benigno Aquino has been invited to deliver the inaugural address.
“We want to advertise what the Liberal Party is doing. It
has been operating based on principled politics, and is conducting
activities and pushing for legislation to ensure that liberalism
is actually going further in this term of President Aquino,”
said FNF Philippines Country Director Jules Maaten.
“We can look back to the many contributions FNF has made
in our journey towards achieving a Liberal Philippines, by translating
theories into practices that are applicable in our work and even
in our daily lives,” said LP Secretary-General Jun
Abaya in his speech during the celebration. “We
are proud of the cooperation between LP and FNF in advocating
reforms,” he added.
Also present at the event were FNF President Dr. Wolfgang Gerhardt,
Treasurer Manfred Richter, Head of International Programs Ulrich
Niemann, and Southeast and East Asia Regional Director Rainer Adam.
The first Country Director of FNF Philippines Lilli Löbsack
was there as well. They witnessed the unveiling of the Freedom
Wall – the message board on freedom. In an interview
with Gerhardt, he acknowledged FNF Philippines’ contributions
in the work of the Foundation. “We have partners here, a strong
Liberal Party, and
the President is our friend. We love to be here,” expressed
Gerhardt.
FNF opened its office in Manila after the People Power Revolution
in 1986. Since then, it has cooperated with LP to pursue political
education. Over the years, it has established partnership with the
National Institute for Policy Studies
(NIPS), Ateneo
Human Rights Center (AHRC), Philippine
Economic Society (PES), and Foundation for Economic
Freedom (FEF) to promote its liberal advocacies.
The anniversary celebration coincided with the closing of the Liberal
International 57th Congress, which was attended by 150 parliamentarians,
ministers, party leaders, representatives of liberal think tanks.
