We have not experienced great invasions, warfare or dominance by immediate neighbouring powers from Indo-China and Asia and so we have a history bereft of great conflicts that help forge nationhood. Cultural influences by interactions through trade and commerce were prolific from the mainland and the lands south-east but assimilation was harmoniously accomplished over time.

We had no central government until the 15th century under a totally different civilization – a European one – totally foreign from our Malay roots. We never had any clear sense of nationhood until Spain imposed on us over time two basic elements – ‘the cross and the sword’

The former supplanted the animist and nature-worship which the Spanish friars derided as pagan beliefs, and we embraced this foreign religion but modified and accommodated some rituals to ours; and the latter instilled a modicum of political cohesion roughly defined as government run from the center.

These two elements working hand-in-glove instilled and developed in the population our growing emerging identity as a nation and set the tone for our experiments in self-government. These practices reinforced and institutionalized patronage politics that permeated relationships, between the church hierarchy and the supplicants; and the secular overseers and the governed.

Democracy Introduced

Such were the circumstances of the Philippine polity after 300 years of Spanish tutelage when a more dominant civilization came into the scene in the latter part of the 19th century, the American hegemony; a juvenile civilization of only less than 300 years by the standards of mainland Asia and the Malayan Peninsula which have by then thrived for millennia.

A new western concept– Democracy – also copied from the ancient Greco-Roman Civilization was introduced into our body politic. It was an alien prototype but the structures as practiced in the United States were not congruent with those superimposed in the Philippines. It was instead tailored-fit to the dictates of the colonials and their local allies – the emerging Philippine elite – the political and economic oligarchy that accepted and incorporated the model without truly understanding its implications.

With Cambodia, our similarities are many. We have record breaking economic growth for the better part of 10 years. Yet they have not trickled down substantially to the populace. We have millions living in poverty. Corruption is endemic in both governments.

Cambodia, just like ours, both strongly share the passion for the great expectations by its people. Our response in the Philippines is to make Democracy work as it has worked for other nations not only in the western hemisphere but here too in Asia. It is a simple formula. To make Democracy work, we need to have working Democrats!

Ideological Underpinnings of Centrist Democratic Party (CDP)

This was the driving impulse behind the creation of a political movement, the Centrist Democratic Movement (CDM) and its subsequent transformation into a political party. The overarching body of beliefs, Christian Democracy which we anchored our initiatives to had its venerable roots tracing back to the momentous event in the 18th century that marked the turning point of the world political history: the French Revolution of 1789.

After the 2nd World War, Christian Democracy, the ideological precepts behind our political party began to take on new form. It was also popularly adopted by Protestant Christian parties notwithstanding its Roman Catholic beginnings. In Europe, it no longer emphasized its religious character.

To veer away from the exclusive Catholic identity of the Christian Democrats and encompass the adherents of various faiths, the word ‘Christian’ was dropped. In time, the appellation metamorphosed into ‘Centrist’ – thus, Centrist Democracy or simply CD.

Centrist Democracy can be summarized in a simple declaration - respect for Human Dignity. This is our core value. We hold therefore that political, economic and social order must be so logically designed that the dignity of each person is protected and promoted. An atmosphere of freedom is a prerequisite upon which Human Dignity is enhanced. Self-determination by each individual, an essential component, is the impetus for collective expression towards the development of a just society. And for society to prosper, it must make available to each individual the needed ingredients for a decent life.