The middle of last year, 2009, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) assigned a new Country Representative to the Philippines replacing Klause Preschle, many of you knew him - who in his 6 year stay in the Philippines has elevated German relationship  with the Filipinos into a higher plane.

 

The new country representative, Herr Dr. Peter Koeppinger, is an old hand in the region – having been assigned to Cambodia and Vietnam. In fact, the good Dr. asked to be assigned to the Philippines.

An accomplished political party technocrat of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Germany, he met in earnest with the Philippine Partners, particularly the Technical Assistance Center for the Development of the Rural & Urban Poor (TACDRUP) based in Davao. This meeting together with the other partners of KAS initiated a rethinking of the political programs of KAS in the Philippines.

His appearance in the scene was very timely indeed as the political life of the country was to undergo emotional turmoil in the passing of the revered Cory Aquino and the impending eclipse of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo government.

In consonance with a conventional pattern over the years, an imminent change in the presidency triggers a convoluted spasm of party realignments – culminating in the advent of and possible dominance of another administration party.

It was towards a similar end game, when the Kampi-Lakas-CMD merger was stressfully forged, and the rush to the popular political heir, Ninoy of the LP became frenetic, that the seed of an idea and political strategy offered itself to KAS and its political partner.

It was not of a small consequence also that the sudden and unexpected passing of the Executive Director of TACDRUP, Rey Magno Teves added to the urgency. He was a prime mover of aflagship program under KAS/TACDRUP.

The SUCCESSOR GENERATION Program was to pass on to our descendants, our doctrinal heirs, the mantle of political responsibility for their lives – from those like us who were in political technocracy from the time we were recruited by the Christian Social Movement of Raul Manglapus, the Young Christian Socialist of the Philippines (YCSP) and the various centrist movements of the 1st quarter storm. We were ourselves the youthful Successors then to the likes of Manuel Manahan, Manuel Pelaez and Ramon Magsaysay.

Needless to say, we, denizens of the political era of the 60s and 70s are now in our 60s and 70s too. Perhaps, it was time for us to retire and pass on the torch.
At this point let me introduce to you the Centrist Democratic Movement (CDM). Composed of young professionals in various fields, they have banded themselves into a dues paying federation, with their own elected leadership, widely operating regional councils and a set of internal rules of discipline and governance.

They are comfortable adapting to an emerging political culture shaped by the electronic social networking. This new found power embedded in the internet mitigates their frustrations on current realities borne out by acts of their elders. They could be the precursor of a new political party or a movement capable of influencing one.

Affiliated to it is the newly formed CENTRIST DEMOCRACY POLITICAL INSTITUTE (CDPI) of which I and Peter Koeppinger are intimately attached - servicing the various Centrist Democratic ideology driven groups, primarily but not exclusively the CDM. Funded by KAS, it is meant to provide orientation and training to the CDM and similar centrist groups including specific leadership training; promote centrist values and policies for public consumption; conduct research and studies on programmatic issues on good governance; and publish these documents, literature and outputs.

CDPI was also designed to be a platform for developing creative ideas and concepts together with other like-minded institutions and stakeholders and provide a forum where these can be widely debated; and link these various endeavors thru seminars, training, conferences.

The themes that distinguish the Centrist Democrats are anchored on the following universal principles and dogma: Respect for Human Dignity is a primordial consideration and its enhancement takes precedence over all. This is our CORE value.

Political, Economic and Social Order must be so logically designed towards its upliftment.

Therefore, the Centrist Democracy Concepts adhere to:        

- A truly functioning Democracy and the Rule of law;         

- A thriving Social Market Economy;        

- The principle of Subsidiarity in all structures of governance; and        

- The building up of strong, sustainable and real political parties as catalyst for effective governance.

Current existing centrist political aggrupation play certain variations around the main themes. The LP, NP, PDP & Lakas may be indistinguishable in their platitudes in times of electoral contests – basically revolving around: poverty alleviation; solutions to graft & corruption; and campaign for peace and order. But these always adjust in tandem with regime changes.

In the absence of sanctions and incentives in real reforms, governance will always be held hostage to the passing dominance of the winning marque.

An area where all the Centrist Parties can be non-partisan is on political party and financing reforms. There are pending bills in congress right now addressing these. Features of the bills can be debated and shaped – without having to undergo stressful initiatives to change the constitution.

We therefore propose a healthy clash of ideas between and among the centrist aggrupation – precipitating what could be the best for the Filipino.
The CDPI will be at the service of these centrist groups in trying to refine the ideology based nuances, issues and strategies of governance.