BULLETIN: LP'S 65th ANNIVERSARY, RE-ELECTED NOY AS CHAIR, MAR AS PRESIDENT
MANILA, JANUARY 23, 2011 (BULLETIN) More to the Point By Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid – Starting with its National Executive Committee (NECO) meeting which elected President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III as chairman and reelected former Senator Mar Roxas as president, the Liberal Party held its National Membership meeting last Wednesday at Club Filipino, and capped with dinner at Malacañang hosted by the President. The latter was nursing a cold but he was in high spirits as he welcomed LP colleagues from all over the country.
He later emceed the rest of the informal program in Malacañang – introducing the various speakers – party officials and chairs of the League of Provincial Governors and City Mayors. He joked about how he may no longer look "pogi" to some who may resent his having ordered the officials concerned to look into the irregularities at the National Food Authority as well as the 100 percent fare increases in both the Light Railway and Metro Railway transit systems.
This was during the celebration of the Liberal Party's 65th anniversary where the NECO elected Senator Frank Drilon and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. as co-chairmen, DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo Executive Secretary, and Rep. Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya Secretary-General.
One can easily see how the party has grown over the past year – from 75 members of the NECO last year to 147 today and from about 500 officials from various levels in national and local government and party leaders to some 2,000 members who attended the convention last Wednesday. As one noted, it was from a "Volkswagen" during the difficult martial law years up to the recent times when it grew to a tourist bus, and now Malacañang, the home of its titular head.
With this quantitative growth, the LP is translating its party platform into qualitative programs based on what the President describes as the LP's defining principle – "kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap." Based on this moral foundation and party priorities which always have the Filipino people foremost in mind, the President is now implementing reforms toward good governance and fulfillment of the "Social Contract." These include upgrading procurement processes and streamlining democratic procedures and institutions.
The party spirit was likewise rekindled with patriotic songs by Noel Cabangon who led the pledge to LP values with the song "Mabuting Filipino." A commemorative magazine was launched on the theme "The Future is Now; Ngayon na ang Pagbabago" which gave a timeline of the LP history since its founding by President Manuel Roxas in 1946 and up to 2010.
The essence of liberalism was redefined in the statements of its present leaders. This "systematic and philosophical change," according to President Aquino, is reflected in leadership anchored on "consensus building, transparency, and daylight which is about positive change, a system that celebrates what is good about the Filipino."
Party President Mar Roxas reinforced this by stating that liberals look to free and open debate as the wellspring of solutions to our national problems, that the true strength of our nation lies not in the official actions of our government, but in the enterprise and ingenuity of our people as free individuals and communities."
Sen. Drilon noted that the overwhelming vote given to P-Noy validated the tremendous public support for the LP's reform agenda for good governance and the clamor to overhaul the politics of patronage and corruption. Liberals, he said, "will neither support nor participate in a government that turns its back on reform."
Speaker Belmonte stated that "crucial to this task is the magnification of our principles, values, and aspirations in the legislative agenda to reform the country's economy, governance and politics, and society." According to Sec-General Rep. Jun Abaya, "the decision-making process is not dictated by a single person and decisions are made by consensus. That was how we were when a small opposition party, and that character will remain now that we are the dominant party." Ka Jovy Salonga, LP chair emeritus, was described as the epitome of the liberal principle of the primacy of personal freedom. He is the "face of the best in the Filipino."
Congratulations to the Editorial Board, Rep. Joseph Abaya, LP Director General Chito Gascon also editor-in-chief, and Henry Bacurnay, and members of the Editorial Staff – Teddy Lopez, Associate Editor, John Coronel, Deedee Espina, Angelico Mercader, S.Y. Santos, Jay Morales, Gil Nartea, Jessa Gonzales, and Aida Vispo. My e-mail is florangel.braid@gmail.com .
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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