I was asked by your principal, Atty. Cirilo Bacallo Radoc, to enlighten you about our organization –CENTRIST DEMOCRATIC PARTY (CDP), formerly the Centrist Democratic Movement (CDM) and present to you its vision, mission and goals which are the dogmas behind its foundation. I thought that I should broaden my talk to connect this topic to what recently transpired in the development of this movement.

December of last year, its highest governing body, the National Council met in Manila and took the decision to convert the CDM into a political party. The debates within the movement on this single issue started even prior to the actual conception of the movement itself and therefore this inevitable act of the highest organ of the CDM was a matter of formality.

There was really no doubt especially among the original movers, the conveners that eventually we will have to metamorphose into this type of organization if we indeed want to pursue our vision of transforming our society.

This does not spell the death of this movement. It has instead assumed a new life by transforming itself to an entity perfectly suited to meet head on the challenges of political realities.

But I am ahead of my discourse. I shall back-track a little and review for you the path we took that brought us to this intersection.

I must assume that each of you has a working knowledge – or at least a certain familiarity with the Centrist Democratic Movement (CDM) and the principles that form part of its foundation. Still I would refer you to the Preamble of the CDM establishing its statutes which encapsulates our Vision, Mission and Goals.

“We the centrist democrats of the Philippines, in order to establish a functioning democracy in the country where all its citizens can live in dignity and have the opportunity to participate actively in the democratic process, to establish a just and humane Philippine society, under the rule of law, equality, justice, solidarity, integrity and subsidiarity, secure for the Filipino people a fully humane and dignified existence do hereby ordain and promulgate these statutes…”

These are beautiful words, indeed. But as in all motherhood statements, unless translated into realities, they remain beautiful words.

To refresh our minds further let us conduct a short review of our analysis of the Philippine political-economic-social ecosystem given the centrist democratic principles as backdrop.

In our readings of Philippine structures and conditions, we summarized our basic problems thus: 

1.     We are a Weak Nation with a Soft State. We cited Jose Abueva’s arguments showing that the state is unable to apply the law equally to all its citizens; our institutions are captives of the oligarchy and they serve mostly the interest of the few rich and powerful politicians; and our leaders have failed to unite and inspire our diverse peoples as a nation.

2.     We have a Dysfunctional Democracy. We referred to the Former Justice Renato Puno, in one of his speeches:

“I like to stress the failure of our electoral system to excise the virus of the politics of patronage that has infected our so called elections…xxx…This vicious politics of patronage has allowed few oligarchs and bosses to rule us from colonial times to post-colonial times and their rule has brought us nothing but a facade of democracy, its mirage but not its miracle.”

Further he said that the dominance of the agenda of the oligarchy, those moneyed few, the political dynasties, clans and cabals who get their candidates elected allow legitimate capture of state institutions by these few. They build on this and perpetuate themselves in power, positions and wealth.

3.     Power is too centralized. Periphery of governance therefore is neglected. The Philippine Government Structure concentrates too much power in central government and a highly centralized bureaucracy. Most of the decisions that affect the lives of the citizenry are embedded, legally and constitutionally although abnormally, in the executive department or the Presidency. So many concerns are passed on to the attention of the chief executive unnecessarily - paralyzing the office in the process.

4.  The Economic System is controlled by the Oligarchy. Philippine Economy is controlled by a few powerful monopolies, cartels and conglomerates distorting the competition in their favor; intimidate and oppress the few competitors and make the market hostile for entrance of newcomers and their flowering. As a consequence, a host of related problems has emerged: from undercapitalization of businesses not favored by connections to the ruling elite; to the stagnation of our competitiveness and low productivity; to the inability to grow our wealth to eradicate poverty.

With this cursory review of the decadent Philippine conditions, the centrist democrats have adopted guiding principles and embarked on these specifics: 1.   We must strive to create a truly functioning Democracy and the Rule of law; 2.   We must help to build up strong and sustainable political parties; 3.   We must endeavor to establish a thriving Social Market Economy; and 4.   We must work for the adoption and practice the principle of subsidiarity in all structures of governance.

The aforementioned are the four (4) propelling principles of the CDM/CDP that intertwined in so many ways and formed the collective substance of the Centrist Democratic Dogma. They help illuminate the sordid state of affairs in the country that have been plaguing us for many decades and give us directions to mitigate, correct and eliminate the failures and also reinforce the good, the positive and the successes of Philippine society.

These tenets are no less than universal and when implanted well, society flourished over time. They succeeded in other countries, particularly those in Europe. We desire no less for our country.

Our core value of respect for Human Dignity has laid for us a clear yet challenging path to traverse towards our people’s renaissance grounded on these four (4) guiding principles.  Hence the CDP is known as the party of true democracy. But as I intimated, these will forever be motherhood statements unless translated into actionable policies and legitimately backed-up by strategies and proposals for governance.  In short, we need an agenda for action.

At this point, I hope I have given you a working knowledge of what the Centrist Democratic Party, our party, is and who we are. But this is not enough.
I shall end my discourse now and shift the momentum to a true political conversation with you at this juncture. I shall ask two critical questions that each of you must answer – to yourself – as future leaders of this country.

Why are you invited here? What next?

Let me help you see your way through – for the simple reason that our answers must be congruent to our vision.

THE CENTRISTAGENDA In my talks and conversation with people, I have often been asked. “Sir…you have been in the political technocracy for decades, as you said, even during the time of Raul Manglapus…even before martial law. Yet, for all your efforts, what have you to show?”

Unsaid in this exchange could be, the sentence “…and you expect us to adopt what you believe in?”

This question, in various configurations always cropped up. Without being cynical, the query could have been paraphrased into a more elegant fashion, thus: “Are we to be the Don Quijotes fighting the windmills?” Without disparaging the great Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes and his famous character - perhaps I could venture an answer.

No we are not like Don Quijote de la Mancha, pining for his true love, Dulcinea Del Toboso – although in some ways – like him, we dream the impossible dream. We too are true believers – but unlike him, we have a plan- an agenda.

With hopes high, an abiding faith in the Filipino’s resilience, the help of the truly earnest public servants and an organized politically astute young leaders and professionals – we present our agenda.

What is the Centrist or CDM/CDP Agenda?
We are to eventually capture political power or at least be a substantial part of the power equation.

We need to assume positions of power and influence, legitimately to bring about change in this country in line with the precepts of the centrist democrats. Movements, civil society, NGOs at best exert moral influence, but have little impact in the crafting of laws and directing policies for good governance.

All politicians have their agenda, be it personal or universal. I submit the better ones are those who mesh the personal with the universal as the CDM/CDP does.

In several steps that reinforce each other, these are: 1^st step. You are to understand, learn and internalize the centrist ideology, philosophy and methods of governance.This is the hardest part really, as this involves, unlearning, learning and personal commitment. Not much action here. This is the reason why we have the Basic Orientation Seminar (BOS), CDM/CDP 101, for you to understand what the nature of the movement is, its strength and weaknesses, its limitations and its possibilities. This is the reason why we invest time, energy and money by conducting further enhancement by getting you to read, internalize, clash and shape the debate and national conversation. 2nd – You have to organize yourselves into a transparent and formidable political force; one needs numbers – you have to expand – precisely along the known political district where your future political battles will be staged.  Know the lay of the land – to paraphrase the great Chinese strategist, Sun Tsu – win the battle even before the first skirmish begins. 3rd – You negotiate, from a position of strength; you coalesce, without surrendering your identity to ride on the force  and vigour of your political partners, making yourself even stronger  while you compete for power. You must learn how to win…political defeat is a lousy option! 4th – When in Power, then you begin to seriously translate into realities the tenets of the centrist democrats. Political dialogues such as this, leadership training and all future enhancements are all directed towards forging a moral political leadership against the anvil of centrist values, tempered by the fire of passion and love for our countrymen.

Only a political party can do all these. The CDM must become the CDP (Centrist Political Party)

My young comrades, in your political journey ahead - be focused - live straight and learn well.

THE 300 A few weeks ago, in one of our discourses a seminar participant asked me this question:

“Sir, why are you so passionate about what you do?”

It was an unexpected question from a young man, but his next query was even more intriguing:

“Sir, what is passion?”

I answered him in so many words that must have confused him more. So I thought that today, I will attempt to delve into the depths of these thoughts and surface perhaps some nuggets that may explain what passion is and why it is needed for the type of work we do. I may even fail to illuminate. So permit a senior citizen a moment of nostalgia.

Not a lot of people know my about my early years. To get an excellent education that my parents can’t afford, I entered the seminary to become a priest – a future shepherd of men. Life at a theological college was austere. We were not allowed to read newspapers, so we knew nothing about current events. Television was in its infant stage and listening to the radio was restricted. Our mails were monitored and our reading materials were heavily censored. We were forced fed classical music developing in me a love-hate relationship with Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart and even Wagner.

Most of our reading fare was sterile, so was our behaviour in public, not contaminated by the social contemporary evils – like fraternizing with nice girls who are not our relatives; and the priests hovering over us declared that such conduct is verging toward mortal sin – condemning us in the afterlife to everlasting fire in hell.

Only safe classic books were sanctioned as reading diversion – to counter intense pubescent boredom. There I discovered the 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae. I pictured myself as one of the Greeks – comparing myself to King Leonidas, who with his force of 300 stopped the multitudes of Persians lead by Xerxes I – preventing in time the conquest of Greece.

I devoured these stories of heroes: David Crocket at the Alamo; General Custer’s last stand at the Little Big Horn; the Siege of Masada during the Jewish-Roman war in the 1st Century; and our very own the boy General Gregorio del Pilar, at Tirad Pass. There were many lessons gleaned from these famous “last stands” - deeds of courage and bravery against overwhelming odds; acts of heroism, self-sacrifice and patriotism.

We are today faced with an onslaught of political corruption and mis-governance; stasis in the socio-economic lives of the majority of our people – stark poverty and general hopelessness.

Mining the past, even romantic fiction for these enthralling tales of authentic heroes we can emulate are what impel people like us, few that we are, men and women not to surrender to the status quo.

Ah, but my favourite is a saga of two thousand years ago where a man of humble origins selected a few people and started a worldwide upheaval whose reverberation is felt even today. As a human, Jesus may have been a poor judge of character. Among the 13 he chose, one betrayed him, another one denied him several times, a third did not believe he came back from the dead and the lone woman was known to be a harlot.

Here was this man who started with a handful but because of the strength of their conviction, the justness of their cause and the ability of the peers to disseminate the message they swept the world with an exciting idea beyond their era— remember too that among our Muslim brothers and Sisters Jesus was one of their own.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this gathering today is meant to help you search and define for yourselves your “Thermopylae” and how each can be a disciple of an ideology that is meant to eventually benefit the Pilipino.

We are not creating a priesthood here but I hope to enrol you to a select assemblage of resolute individuals committed to a type of change, rooted on a philosophy of governance based on the respect for human dignity.

You could be the disciples not of any prophet but of this compelling dogma.
Whether you acknowledge it or not, you are a fragment of an elite educated membership, distinguished from the hordes by a mixture of talents bestowed upon a few and denied the many. We desire that you be part of a team of politically astute young professionals, shakers, movers and achievers who will have to alter the very fabric of our society for the good of the Pilipino.

In this gathering, you may each have your own agenda in mind.  It is expected. The important thing is that you are willing to learn together and eventually decide that political technocracy can be woven into your daily lives.

Possibly, most or some of you are committed.  Maybe some of you are here because of sheer curiosity. Whatever is the motivation, after a series of conferences, meetings and enhancements you may begin to comprehend by yourself what your role should be.

You are good if you can uplift the Filipino from their current condition. But you are greater if you bring them to a condition beyond where they need not be uplifted.
That one, ladies and gentlemen, is a role you must carve for yourself.

Delivered at the Golden West Colleges Alaminos, Pangasinan July 26, 2012