Dr. Peter Köppinger Representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in The Philippines,

1. Southeast Asia: Tasks and activities of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung at a national and international level Dr. Peter Köppinger Representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in The Philippines,

2. 2 - IntroductionLet me start my presentation with the question I had to answer so many times during my thirteen years with KAS in Southeast-Asia – the last time was last Sunday in Batangas Province south of Manila:Why are you present in Asia? What are the intentions of KAS? Are we idealists, looking for a better world? Are we working for German political and economic profit and interests?

3. - 3 - The Asia Concept of KAS provides us with an answer: • Only if the concepts of democracy, rule of law, social justice and the respect for human rights will be accepted and rooted in Asia, our European vision of a human future will have a chance to be realized in a globalized world and the legitime interests of German and European people will be respected. • That translates into: Yes, we are idealists. We, as Christian Democrats, believe in the core value of human dignity. But being idealists we work in the best interest of the German people. And we believe that we work also in the best interest of the people here in the coutries of Southeast Asia. This, of course, is not new for you as you have been in close touch with the foundation already in the past.

4. - 4 - I would like to have one short remark on the approach of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in it´s international work: The KAS is a soft power. • We do not have instruments to put pressure on decision makers in the countries, where we work. • We do not think that we know exactly how to solve problems in these countries. • We do not believe in one-to-one transfer of successfull models from Germany or Europe to these countries. • And we do not try to design and implement as foreigners blueprints for the solution of problems in other countries. What we do is: we work with partners. Political partners, cultural and religious partners, partners in the academe, in civil society and economic life. And we work through dialogue, exchange of knowledge and experience, joint research, joint piloting, joint capacity building.

5. - 5 - On this background: How do we design „Democracy Promotion“ at regional level in the diverse Southeast Asian Context: Our Basic Problem: The diversity of Southeast Asia creates huge challenges for a joint regional work • Buddhist Culture dominating in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia • Islam the dominating religion in Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and with relevant minorities in Thailand and the Philippines • Confucianism strongly influenced the culture in Vietnam and Singapore, • Catholicism and other Christian believes are dominating the culture in the Philippines and influence relevant minorities in Indonesia and Vietnam.

6. - 6 – Do they have a joint value basis in human dignity? And how can core values shared by these religions and beliefs be translated into the concepts of democracy, rule of law, social justice and good governance in the different frameworks? On top of these religious/cultural diversities we find different political concepts: Peoples participation as a key mechanism of governance in modern mass societies is accepted in all countries. But the practical translation of this prinicple into government and supervision systems and mechanisms could not be more different than it is in the different countries of the region. How do we take this into account in our regional project approaches?

7. - 7 - I will introduce to you one example: The project„Partnership for democratic local governance in Southeast-Asia“ co-funded by the European Union The objectives: • Increase democratic participation and improve governance on local level all over the region; • Create a sustainable regional network of local authorities, local government associations, governance-focused NGOs and academes on the improvement of democratic local governance in the region; • Capacitate Local Government Associations for the support of their members in improving democratic local governance through transnational best practice exchange • Improve the legal and political framework for good local governance in the countries of the region

8. - 8 - The methodology: The carefully adapted replication of best practice and success stories between local governments of five countries in the region in the following thematic fields: • peoples participation in local decision making • Institutional governance in local administrations (which includes transparency, accountability, accessability, effectiveness…) • effective and inclusive public services delivery in environmentally relevant fields • transparent and effective public finance and investment strategies

9. - 9 - Who are the partnersand key stakeholders: • Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung as contractual partner of the EU • Local Government Development Foundation (Ph) • Thai Environment Institute (Th) • Union of Cities and Local Governments in Asia-Pacific • 11 Local Government Associations in Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam • 16 Pilot Cities/Municipalities/Local Governments in the five countries The project started in March 2010 and will be finalized late in 2012.

10. - 10 -Let´s have a look now on Democracy Promotion at national level in The PhilippinesBasic problems: We have only a facade of democracy, high levels of violence and impunity, 25% of population in absolute poverty without improvment for decades Data and figures: • No. 58 out of 59 countries in GDP per capita and in Scientific Infrastructure, no. 57 in Education and Basic Infrastructure in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2011 • No. 136 out of 153 countries in the Global Peace Index 2011, down from no. 100 in 2007 • No. 134 out of 170 countries in the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International in 2010 • No. 3 world-wide in 2009, 2010 and 2011 in the Impunity Index Rating of the Committee to Protect Journalists

11. - 11 - How could this happen to a country which was considered to be the first and freest democracy in Asia, to be no. 2 behind Japan in it´s economic development in the sixties of last century? Here are explanations from two Philippine personalities with highest reputation in the country – both for their analytical capacities as for their personal integrity: „This vicious politics of patronage has allowed few oligarchs and bosses to rule us from colonial times to post colonial times and their rule has brought us nothing but a facade of democracy … Democracy after 1986, failed to lead to the development of a healthy party structure in the country´s political system.“ Former Chief Justice Reynato Puno (September 2010).

12. - 12 - „Oligarchic influence on the highest State organs enables powerful individuals, families and clans to organize monopolies and cartels, tilt the rules of competition in their favor and acquire privileged access to the rents … generated by public investments.“ „Critics have turned to cultural factors for an explanation…But politics can change a culture and save it from itself…Our problems merely reflect structural defects in our political institutions. … Our country still is governed not by laws, not by political institutions but by political personalities…Because we have no stable political parties that share an approach to governance, there is no continuity in our public policies.“ General Jose T. Almonte, Former Security Advisor under President Ramos (May 2010).

13. - 13 -The answer of KAS to this situation: The project „Promotion of the establishment of the Centrist Democratic Movement Federation of the Philippines“ General objective: To develop a relevant political force which endorses the reform of the political and socio-economic system in a centrist-democratic orientation as it´s aim for which it struggles day by day in the parliament, in the broad public and in dialogue with civil society and the academe. Specific objectives (1) to create a living role model of a member based, program-oriented political party with internal democratic procedures (2) to provide young citizens with a credible tool to commit themselves for the improvement of democracy, governance, rule of law and the change of the miserable life of so many citizens (3) to create the legal and political framework for a strong multi-party system in order to brake the oligarchic political-economic combined structure and patronage culture

14. - 14 - Approach of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (1) Support for the nationwide establishment of a Centrist Democratic Movement (CDM) on (congressional) district, regional, and national level - eventually turning into a political party as a cristallization point for Centrist Democrats in different groups and organizations all over the Philippines (2) Partnering in the establishment of a „Centrist Democracy Political Institute“ (CDPI) with the mission of systematically supporting centrist democratic policies, movements and parties in the Philippines through capacity building, research, conceptual work and dialogue (3) Cooperation with Centrist Democrats in all State bodies, institutions and organizations in order to link them up with each other and to achieve a critical mass for reform steps in legislation, politics, public opinion.

15. - 15 - Actual achievements: (1) CD PoliticaI Institute established and fully operational, with Chief Justice Puno (ret.) at the top and other public personalities with highest reputation as members in it´s Advisory Board (2) CDM established in 10 regional movements with about 900 dues paying members covering the whole country; National Council of the Federation operational, establishment of district chapters started 6 weeks ago, (until September 80 out of 230 expected to be established) (3) Clear programmatic orientation and strict internal democratic procedures as fixed in the CDM Statutes are respected and honored in all bodies of the movement. (4) The movement is financing it´s core activities out of it´s obligatory membership dues and from some small donations. (5) Media reporting about CDM and CDPI has started, local centrist politicians and first national parliamentarians became members (6) Political Party reform bill and electoral reform bill under discussion in the House of Representatives