PEACE-MAKER
Former Speaker of the House Jose C. De Venecia Jr.
We are saddened by the continuing economic crisis in Lebanon, which the World Bank has earlier described as “the most devastating multi-pronged crisis in its modern history.”
The ongoing political deadlock in parliament has the country without a president since Oct. 30 last year, which many fear is plunging Lebanon deeper into the crisis.
For several months now, it does not have a fully functioning government, but is only under a caretaker government led by its prime minister.
We visited Lebanon the first time some 50 years ago, when we pioneered as prime contractor in port operations in Jeddah on the Red Sea and Jubail on the Persian Gulf (Arab Gulf) and were engaged in oil drilling, infrastructure, and mass housing in the Middle East and North Africa.
We were impressed by how cosmopolitan Beirut was in the early 1970s. The city was vibrant. The streets, shops and restaurants reminded us of Paris. Indeed, it was once dubbed the “Paris of the Middle East,” until civil war broke out in 1975.
In February 2019, we visited Beirut with Aldwin Requejo, our long-time special assistant who currently serves as chief of staff of our congressman-son Christopher, where we conferred with senior leaders of parliament and political parties of Lebanon.
The trip was part of our continuing modest effort in promoting mutual understanding, trust, dialogue, and cooperation in the international community through the channel of political parties. Lebanon’s Future Movement Party and Free Patriotic Movement Party sit in the governing body of ICAPP, the International Conference of Asian Political Parties, which is now composed of some 350 ruling, opposition, and independent political parties from 52 countries in Asia.
Lebanon was once part of the great Phoenician Empire, composed of territories located along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea stretching through what are now Syria, Lebanon, and northern Israel. The Phoenicians were considered “the best sailors of the Ancient World, exploring the Mediterranean region and made advances in shipbuilding, maritime trading, and maritime technology.” They also invented the alphabet in 1200 B.C., which is the basis of the alphabet we use today.
Lebanon is the most religiously diverse country in the Middle East, composed of the two divisions of Islam (Sunni and Shia) and Christianity (Maronite Church, Orthodox Church, Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Protestant churches, and the Armenian Apostolic Church).
Perhaps the Lebanese leaders may consider establishing some sort of a “government of national unity” by enlisting into their government “the best and the brightest” from their political parties, civil society, business, academe, and other sectors so that, together, they can begin rebuilding their great country.