PEACE-MAKER
Jose de Venecia Jr.
Former Speaker of the House
In our previous column, we discussed our founding and launching in Manila in September, 2000, of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), to serve as a forum for dialogue, understanding, and cooperation on issues and challenges in our Asian region and the international community through the network of political parties.
Political parties can and must complement the efforts of governments and parliaments in advancing common causes besetting the global community such as combating terrorism and violent extremism, battling climate change and environmental degradation, fighting poverty and diseases, reducing geopolitical tensions and conflicts.
Compared to many countries in Asia and in other regions like North America and Europe, however, we Filipinos still have much work to do to strengthen political parties in our country.
Indeed our country’s weak party system has reduced political parties into mere vehicles to advance one’s political ambition. It has diminished the important role of political parties in national development and international relations.
Our weak party system has also turned our election campaign into a popularity contest, a competition of name recall, celebrity status, and/or political pedigree, instead of a battle of policies and programs.
The absence of a strong party system has also contributed to perpetuating traditional electoral machineries – like vote-buying and vote-selling – as well as political dynasties in our country.
To start the process of building a solid party system, perhaps Congress may enact a bill providing public funding for political parties that demonstrate broad national support, as a way of reducing their unhealthy dependence on interest groups for election campaign contributions.
We believe it is a way of levelling the political playing field and dramatically reducing political corruption. More inimical is the intrusion into the political system of criminal syndicates that deal in illegal drugs, gambling, or smuggling which reportedly finance candidates for national and key local positions.
Political parties are important instruments to carry out our nation’s socio-economic and political agenda, promote people’s aspirations and participation, build political consensus, and present alternative solutions to issues and challenges facing our country.
Thus, as part of any thorough-going political reform, we need to build strong political parties in order to institutionalize and stabilize political decision-making. After all, presidents and administrations come and go, but political parties remain.
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Last Sunday, September 27, we joined former US vice presidents Dick Cheney and Dan Quayle, former European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, former 30-year US congressman Dan Burton who is our co-chairman in the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Speaker of the Cambodian parliament Heng Samrin, and several other political and religious leaders at a video conference dubbed, “Rally of Hope,” organized by the New York-based Universal Peace Federation (UPF).The UPF was founded by religious leader and peace advocate Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, who delivered the keynote address at the virtual summit.
The “Rally of Hope” was part of UPF’s continuing effort to advance the cause of peace through cooperation and collaboration on critical issues besetting the global community, such as the conflict in the Korean Peninsula and other geopolitical tensions worldwide, the battle against terrorism, and violent extremism.
A leading advocate of “Track Two” diplomacy, UPF brings together leaders of government, politics, business, religious groups, and civil society through regular consultation and dialogue.
As we had earlier pointed out in this column, we all have a role and responsibility and therefore must contribute, even in a modest way, in building a better and more peaceful world.