Liberal Party: Policies for the New Century
IT IS clear that the Philippines need change. Here are first steps, the key measures which we believe must be taken immediately if we are to break the cycle of decline and unlock the full scope of our potential and pave the way to future success.
The First Steps
• In the middle of this current crisis, the economy needs new impetus. We will immediately introduce an emergency programme of investment in infrastructure, in public works and in social housing and other social services in order to get companies and people back to work, thus reducing unemployment over the next two years.
• The control of inflation and the institutionalization of a stable climate for industry to plan and prosper in order to lead to long-term prosperity is a major objective. To accomplish this, we shall ensure that the Banko Sentral ng Pillipinas (BSP) remain steadfast and independent with regards its primary responsibility of maintaining a stable policy consistent with the requirements for price stability.
• Environmental priorities will be built into all economic decision-making, ensuring that economic success goes hand in hand with environmental responsibility. We will introduce new environmental incentives.
• The Philippines’ political institutions need major reforms; stable and representative government, further decentralization of power to local governments, and greater respect for the Bill of Rights. As an essential measure to secure and entrench lasting reform we will introduce fair voting by proportional representation for all elective offices and fully implement the modernization of our elections.
• The skills and capabilities of the Filipino people must be adequate to meet challenges of the new century. We will increase investment in education and work training. The main objective will be to provide our citizens with dignified employment.
• The poor and disadvantaged deserve greater security in these difficult times. We will introduce welfare programs to compliment and protect private pension, provide comprehensive health care to the needy and introduce self-help programs for the most needy.
Only when these key steps have been taken will government and individuals alike be able to plan for the long term, instead of focusing on the short term.
I. Economic Program
We believe that the market is the best basis for providing opportunity and prosperity. Government’s role should be to guarantee competition, through;
1. Ensuring that the market works as effectively as possible. This means liberal markets and open competition, both domestically and internationally. It means action to remove barriers, to lower costs of entry into the marketplace (this is of particular importance to small businesses and the self-employed), and to encourage individual enterprise. It means a market driven by consumer choice, rather than producer power. It means providing the public investment necessary to create the climate for private enterprise to prosper. This includes an infrastructure which allows efficient mobility of goods, and a social structure which provides the maximum flexibility of labor compatible with fair treatment of employees. And this in turn means moving towards the full protection of rights at work defined individually and protected by statute.
2. Taking action to correct market failures. This includes preventing industry and consumers from distorting the market by ignoring environmental costs. It means that barriers of discrimination that would otherwise exist – against women who are likely to have children, for example, or against people with disabilities – are dismantled. It means, crucially, correcting the unfettered market’s tendency not to invest in human resources – as a skilled and adaptable workforce will be necessary to meet the economic challenges of the new century. On a wider scale, it means setting a framework of long-term forecasting, thinking and research that the market left alone usually ignores.
3. Ensuring that ownership is spread as widely as possible at all levels (including in the workplace itself). This implies a commitment to equity considerations, job ownership and to participation in decision-making at work.
To enable such market to work, government must create stable conditions in the economy. Chief amongst these are low inflation, stable exchange rates, a vibrant domestic market and low tariff and non-tariff barriers to external trade.
To meet these objectives, the Liberal Party shall undertake:
1. Economic Stabilization
What the economy needs is a new impetus. The government’s proposals will not achieve this. Only new investment will provide the kick-start needed to escape from recession and reduce the waste of talents and escape which results from unemployment.
Liberals recognize the Philippines’ long-term needs. We are committed to a competitive and enterprising economy. We do not believe it is government’s job to run business-people do that much better. We see government’s role as encouraging competition, investing in skills involving employees in the success of their companies, nurturing small business, playing positive part in the construction of the new Southeast Asian economy and above all bringing greater stability to national economic management.
A. Turn the Country Around
The current recession is undermining our future success. Massive lay-offs, business closures, unemployment and underemployment lead to major wastage of talent and resources. At the same time, essential investment in infrastructure, in education and training and in innovation, is being neglected.
Liberals will introduce an emergency programme of investment to end the slump- major programme of public capital investment, jointly funded by the government and private investors (i.e., such as through the B.O.T. scheme), perhaps together with a prudent increase in borrowing. This combined with a freeze in interest rates and investment in education to increase the nation’s skills, will kick-start recovery and create jobs, we will:
• Invest in local economies. We will encourage Small Scale Enterprises to become strong, locally based, employer-led organizations providing business services, acting as an effective voice for business at local level, and overseeing training of those in employment. We will encourage decentralization of financial institutions. We will end the present Government’s policy of clawing back authority from local governments.
• Investment in infrastructure. We will provide support for transport infrastructure, including a dedicated expansion of our existing rail and navigation system to connect the capital with the major routes throughout the country, and the extension of electrification throughout the country. We will encourage the expansion of airports and seaports outside Luzon.
• Freeze-business rates this year, thus effectively reducing them in real terms, a larger reduction than that which the Government is prepared to do.
• Stimulate competition. We will take tough action against monopolies, combinations in restraint of trade and those who manipulate the financial and FOREX markets. We will introduce a Restrictive Practices Act to penalize anti-competitive behavior and end price-fixing by cartels. We well encourage greater competition in the banking sector.
B. Make the Philippine Economy Competitive
Creating long-term prosperity. We will change the ways in which economic policy is made and implemented to bring greater stability and a sensible framework to economic management – ending the present ‘boom, bust’ approach. Long-term private investment in the production of high-quality tradable goods and services is essential for long-term success. This will only be possible in a climate of investment, enterprise and partnership. This climate of enterprise and competition is vital if Philippine industry and products are to compete effectively is overseas market. We will:
• Break up monopolies. We shall level the playing field through the dismantling of monopolies in public utilities, agricultural trade and energy generation and distribution, and by ensuring that business incentives apply to all except for the industries targeted for accelerated development.
• Launch an all-out mobilization of Filipino capital in support of a vigorous program of industrialization and employment creation.
• Promote the accelerated transformation of the economy into a modern and industrializing one by targeting the high value-added industries that will allow the country to catch up in the development process.
• Promote consumer rights. We will take the lead to ensure that all products come with accurate, full and simple product and service information. We will give consumer watchdogs greater powers, and improve redress for inadequate goods and services.
• Build partnership in industry. We will ensure that every employee has a right to participate in decision-making in their enterprise. We will set up a program for Industrial Partnership to help companies and their employees find the precise form of partnership which best suit them.
• Invest in research, innovation and design. We will immediately increase the science and technology budget and raise it steadily thereafter. We will establish regional technology transfer centers to bring together the resources of industry to invest in innovation and to provide seedcom capital.
• Reform taxation to increase investment. We will increase investment substantially in schemes to encourage innovation in industry, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises, especially those involved in the manufacturing. We will reform corporation taxation of savings to achieve even treatment for different forms of savings.
• Encourage a long-term approach to private investment. We will reform the corporation and investment codes to require greater disclosure of information such as expenditure on research and development. We will further define the responsibilities corporate officers to ensure public accountability.
• Encourage small business and the self-employed, and ensure a level playing field for them in competing with their larger establishments. This will include relieving the administrative burden on overdue debt, and encouraging local chambers of commerce and local enterprise agencies to reorganize to form a network of business-led one-stop shops. We will encourage and if necessary legislate for banks to treat small business fairly. We will promote the establishment in the countrysides of local enterprise banks.
• Ensure the development of a balanced and dynamic agro-industrial structure featuring a sound mix of basic, intermediate and light industries and the active participation of all Filipino producers – the Filipino industrialists, the small and medium business, the family enterprises, the professionals, the artisan and craftsmen, the industrial workers, the OCWs, the farmers, the fisher folks, the tribal communities, etc.
• Share success in industry. We will legislate to establish the right of every private sector employee in a substantial company to have access to a share in ownership and/ or in the profit they help to create. We will encourage profit-related pay, employee share-ownership schemes and employee buy-outs. We will re-launch the Cooperative Development Authority. Strengthen the role of cooperatives, people’s organizations and other grass-roots organizations in community livelihood projects.
2. Generate Employments
• Attack unemployment by creating new employment opportunities. Our emergency program should reduce unemployment drastically over next two years. We will increase spending on public transport, housing, hospitals and schools, on energy efficiency and conservation projects and on education and training – all sensible investments for the country’s future. We will aim to guarantee everyone out of work for six months of more places on either a high-quality training program or a work program with a strong element of training. Vocational training would be directed at increasing the capacity of the work force for high-tech jobs.
• Create training incentives for firms that would encourage employers to release their employees aged under 20 for a minimum of one day in the workweek for further training. We will establish a fully integrated system of skills training, leading to recognized qualification. We will increase ‘access’ courses for mature students and retraining for women returnee’s and those in mid-career. We will fund crash courses in the main areas of skill shortage, aimed in particular at the long-term unemployed.
• Encourage decentralized wage bargaining. Our plans to spread employee ownership and participation will encourage wages to be set according to the profitability of individual firms. We will encourage greater decentralization of wage bargaining at company level.
• Encourage flexibility in working patterns, including part-time and flexi-time work, job-sharing and home working.
3. Taxation
Taxation is a key feature of economic policy. The way in which taxation is applied and explained, however, is crucial. The purpose of taxation is to provide opportunity by expanding public sector services. It shall be our duty to indicate how taxes can be used to fulfill this purpose. We believe that, to be acceptable to those who pay, a taxation system should have five virtues. It should be effective at providing a wider distribution of opportunities; it should be appropriate to the prevailing conditions of the economy; it should be used to exact the full price for actions or goods whose market price would otherwise be lower than their true cost (such as those which produce pollution); it should, as far as possible, allow the maximum freedom to the individual; and it should be just, and be seen to be just. For this reason an efficient modern system of tax would levy less charge on wealth, value added and jobs, but impose more on the use of finite raw materials and the production of pollution.
Our long-term aim is to shift the burden of taxation away from the things the country needs more of – income, saving and value added – and on to the things we want less of, such as pollution and resource depletion.
• Taxes and public spending shall be set to reach a savings target for the country over a period of years. We will set a target as a total of private- and public-sector savings, and adjust fiscal policy to achieve the target over the medium term. If the country does not save enough to achieve the target, we will alter taxes and public spending accordingly, to ensure adequate long-term investment and keep the economy developing in a non-inflationary way. We will encourage individual savings by giving tax relief on all income paid into new Registered Savings Accounts.
• Provide a taxation and licensing regime for oil and gas, which will ensure sustained exploration and continued development to gain the maximum yield from our potential energy resources.
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• Reform of the annual budget. We will publish a draft budget before the final version is submitted to Congress, to promote open discussion of economic and taxation policy. This will facilitate the integration of spending and revenue-raising, a measure we have long advocated. This will also make it easier to measure the impact of economic policy on the environment, and on the other needs of society.
4. Environmental Protection
There are two major environmental challenges to be confronted: excessive use of resources, particularly of finite raw materials, and excessive output of pollution. The global population explosion hugely amplifies these threats. But these challenges must also be seen as opportunities – opportunities to create a local environment, both natural and man-made, which will improve individuals’ quality of life, and communities’ civic pride; opportunities to create a more efficient economy, with industry which concentrates on clean technology and energy conservation; and opportunities to create a public transport system which is both efficient and pleasant to use.
We have to find the ways to alter our economic system, change the way we behave and restructure our society in order to live sustainably – defined as leaving a stock of knowledge and understanding, of technology, of manufactured capital and of environmental assets no smaller than that which we inherit. This applies not just at the national but, even more importantly, at the global level.
In Philippines, this implies changes in energy use and production, in patterns of transport and mobility, of housing and planning, in methods of production and habits of consumption, and, crucially, in the measurement of progress. But these objectives will not be accomplished successfully by asking people to give up either their liberty or their prosperity.
So although government has an indispensable role as setter of standards, the task is not to abandon the market and individual choice in favor of command economy and tougher limits on individual behavior. It is. Rather. To incorporate environment costs into the market wherever feasible, and thus educate and encourage individuals and firms to use their choice in favor of the environment and to penalize those who do not. There is plenty of evidence to show that in principle people are ready and want to do this; our task is to find ways to mobilize and channel this public support.
Liberals know that we have a duty, not only to each other but to the generations which follow us, to protect the environment. We believe that this is best achieved not by making people poorer or less free but by building true environmental cost into the market so as to reward those who conserve and penalize those who pollute.
The accelerating destruction of the environment is one of the most serious challenges we face today. Its symptoms are becoming clearer with year, from global warming and holes in the ozone layer to poisoned rivers and polluted air at home. They threaten not just our ability to enjoy our towns and countryside but our health and our children’s future. Liberals aim to cut pollution and cleanup the local environment. We will create new incentives to follow environmentally sensitive strategies and behavior.
Liberals are determined to ensure that the country changes its ways so that it becomes as leader, not a laggard, in facing the environmental challenge. Polluters will pay and conservators will be rewarded. Taxation will be gradually shifted from the things we want more of – income, savings and value added – to the things we want less of: pollution and resource depletion.
A. Protect the National Patrimony
Conserving and enhancing the physical environment, especially the countryside, forests and national parks, as well as the town centers and barangays, is of crucial importance to everyone’s quality to life. We will:
• Improve countryside protection policies for conservation Areas, heritage coasts, areas of outstanding natural beauty, and sites scientific interest. We will tighten controls against exploitation, we will create more Conservation Areas and will improve access to the countryside. We shall also ensure the strict enforcement of criminal sanctions against traders in endangered species.
• Introduce Countryside Management Agreement for farmers and landowners. These will be drawn up in conjunction with local planning authorities with the aim of managing the countryside to animal wildlife, and preserve traditional landscape features.
• Reform land use planning so that the protection of the environment is integrated to the planning system. We will decentralize planning decisions as much as possible, giving a key role to the local plan drawn up by the local authority.
• Clean up the cities. We will improve public transport, reduce traffic congestion, and encourage pedestrianisation and cycling schemes. We will encourage more parks, gardens and green spaces. We will provide more resources for local councils to deal with noise complaints and make compensation for excessive commercial noise more widely available.
• Promote better waste management. We will provide grants for recycling schemes, introduce regulations on the use of packaging materials, and encourage local; authorities to clean up litter. We will clean up beaches and coastlines by ensuring full treatment of sewage.
B. Control Pollution
We will use market mechanisms, where feasible, to reduce pollution by ensuring that environmental costs and benefits are fed in to the economy. Direct controls will still be needed in some cases. We will:
• Set targets for cutting pollution. These include a 30% reduction in carbon dioxide emission from the Philippines by the year 2010; our energy policy is geared to this target. We will ban the use of CFC and other greenhouse gases and encourage the use of alternatives.
• Introduce a system of tradable emission licenses. We will issue factories and power stations with licenses setting a ceiling on permitted emissions of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide. These will be tradable: those who are most efficient at reducing pollution would have surplus licenses which they could then sell either to those less efficient, or therefore to government. The targets for emissions- and therefore the number of licenses available – will by reduced year by year, leading to steady fall in pollution.
• Put forward plans for a powerful United Nation Environment Programme to lead global efforts to protect the environment, operating within the framework of an ‘Earth Charter’. We wish to see a world market in tradable emission licenses for carbon dioxide and other pollutants. This would not only provide incentives to cut pollution but also act as a channel for transferring resources to developing countries.
C. Country Energy
Without an effective energy policy, government cannot have an effective environment policy. The country’s national energy strategy must be set within an overall framework of sufficiency, with the aim of reducing pollution, improving energy efficiency and boosting the use of renewable sources. We will:
• Invest in energy conservation and efficiency. We will set new energy efficiency standards for homes, offices and factories, and for products such as lights bulbs, fridge and cookers. We will give incentives for the installation of solar panels, and introduce energy audits of building.
• Double government spending on renewable energy research. We will establish a Renewable Energy Office to promote research, development and application, in particular of wave power, hot rocks geothermal energy, passive solar design of building, small-scale hydropower schemes and wind energy. The non-fossil fuel obligation must be reformed to allow and adequate return which will encourage private energy production, most of which would be renewable.
• Encourage continued exploration for oil and gas, and ensure that the licensing system and the taxation regime encourage rather than inhibit enhanced extraction rates.
• Support a Community-wide Energy Tax on all energy sources. This will be related to levels of carbon dioxide emitted and will provide a strong incentive for saving energy and investing in cleaner sources. Extra revenue raised through the tax will be fed back into the economy by reducing other taxes such as VAT and by protecting those least able to adapt to the higher price of energy.
D. Make Transportation Clean and Efficient
By expanding the provision and quality of public transport and reducing society’s dependence on the private car, we will improve travel efficiency and protect the environment. We will achieve this by:
• Investment in public transport. Developing alternative modes of transportation especially in congested cities, increasing the frequency of service, speed and safety, and reducing the costs to the individual – especially in isolated rural areas where the need is greatest. We will encourage new schemes, building light rail systems in cities and train network between provinces. We will require local authorities to define minimum standards of accessibility in their areas and draw up transport plans that meet them.
• Immediate improvement in the rail network. Allowing more movement of goods and passengers by rail and causing less environment damage.
• A reduction in fuel consumption. Price increases in gasoline will not be brought in unless and until compensation schemes for individuals and rural communities which have no alternative to the use of cars are already to be introduced.
• Assist people in rural areas by developing improved schemes of concessionary fares for local public transport widely available. We will encourage the use of shuttle services and buses. Transport policy will be guide by specific measures to ensure that rural communities are not disadvantages.
• Take action against traffic congestion in urban areas. We will encourage local authorities to introduce peak-hour bans on cars, traffic, calming measures, car-sharing schemes and further pedestrianization. We will consider introducing a variety of road-pricing schemes, in which motorists pay a premium to use highly congested roads at busy times of the day.
• New priorities for road building. We will approve major hi-way or trunk road investment where it can be demonstrated that alternative transport provisions cannot meet the need at lower economic and e4nvironmental cost. Essential new roads and improvement will proceed, particularly to improve safety. However, we shall encourage some switch of passenger and freight transport to the railways once train systems are sufficiently developed.
• Reverse the decline in the Merchant Fleet. Both for economic and defense reasons, we will boost Philippine shipping and promote recruitment and training for Seamen and the Merchant Marines
• Develop environmental planning policies which will encourage the building of homes near workplaces, leisure facilities, shops and other services. Where this is not possible, public transport routes must be easily accessible. We will encourage the use of information technology to decentralize work.
E. Build a Sustainable Economy
Liberals aim to build an economy which is not only competitive and enterprising but also environmentally sustainable, leaving future generations a wealth inheritance – of knowledge, technology, capital and environmental assets – at least as great inherited by the current generation. A system of environment incentives and penalties will be set in place. We will make available grants and subsidies for environmentally friendly activities and help individuals and industry adjust to stricter standards for pollution control. We will penalize activities that harm the environment or deplete the stocks of raw materials through taxation, in order for prices to reflect the damage they do. A new energy Tax is a key proposal in this area. The revenue raised will be used to reduce other taxes such as VAT. Our proposals are:
• A better method of measuring economic progress. The conventional target of growth in GDP is a poor indicator of progress. We will modify GDP by incorporating measurements of pollution and resource depletion to create a figure for sustainable national income. We will also use indicators of social and personal quality of life such as changes in life expectancy, literacy rates and educational attainment to give a better measure of progress.
• Enable consumers to identify and choose sustainable products. We will introduce new product labels, showing information such as energy consumption during use and the environmental impact of the production process. We will introduce strict standards of life expectancy for companies, showing the environmental impact in their activities.
II. Political Program
The question of controlling the powers exercised by government is central to liberal thinking. We believe that these powers are best discharged as near as possible to the individuals and the communities they most affect. We aim to give individuals the greatest possible control ever their own destiny to enable them to be directly responsible for their own actions.
Our vision of society stresses the concept of community – defined primarily by locality but also with reference to interest and occupation. It is at the level of community that the individual will understand his proper relationships with, and responsibilities to others. The challenge is in discovering how government can act to foster this sense of community and to help individuals discover and develop the communities in which they feel most satisfied without fostering a sectarianism that is the obverse of community power.
The first and foremost way is through the decentralization of government, increasing the power and rights of the individual and making government accountable. Another way is by encouraging a plural and diverse civic society.
The ‘intermediate institutions’ of pressure groups, professional associations and trade unions, clubs and societies, non-governmental voluntary organizations, a free press, churches and other organizations should be independent and free from coercion, able to promote their own views whether or not these accord with those of government. The only justification for placing restraint upon their activities should be if they interfere with the liberties of others. A flourishing network of such institutions helps to promote non-conformity and a diversity of viewpoints, which can only enrich society.
Finally, the role of the law, and of education, in developing people’s rights and opportunities should not be underestimated. Respect for the freedoms and rights of others can be fostered not only by a sense of community, but also by a strong, effective and fair framework for the protection of the rights and freedoms of each individual. Tolerance will only flourish – and perhaps even survive – in the absence of fear.
In the light of all these, we shall undertake the following:
5. Peace and Human Rights
Liberals envision a Philippine society that is just and peaceful. We recognize that the root of the festering political conflicts in our country may be traced to unjust and oppressive social and economic structures. Thus, the attainment of a just and lasting peace is an aspiration that is its own reward. The government will create an environment where the rule of law is supreme and where every man can seek and get justice.
Human rights are a powerful weapon for social transformation. In the quest for a better future, people articulate their aspirations in terms of human rights. Because of this it is recognized by all as being Universal. It is the language by which the various struggles of marginalized groups are articulated. In a world of inequality, human rights are a natural weapon of the oppressed, the exploited and the disadvantaged. The inherent dignity of humanity, which is at the core of human rights, is now recognized globally.
There exists a well-defined nucleus of human rights which are meant to spare individuals the worst infringements upon their personal integrity. There can be no compromising when it comes to the fundamental rights of the person –life, liberty, protection from slavery and arbitrary deprivation of liberty, protection and discrimination. There is no political reality or social order that can ever justify infringement upon fundamental human rights. Under no circumstances can the fundamental rights of the individual be sacrificed.
Human rights form the most convincing path to peace between people, as well as between states. Today’s debate on human rights does not principally revolve around their overall right to recognition, but is centered on the question of how they can be implemented to the greatest extent possible. Whether human rights are worthy of support is no longer the issue, but rather –how they are to be achieved. Politics –including the politics of human rights – is always about making genuine improvements to actual conditions.
The immediate task is to establish the conditions for a genuine a human rights regime in the country. We need to build the necessary infrastructure for human rights advocacy in our society from the local to the national levels, whether these be governmental or non-governmental. A liberal government shall always adhere to, defend, respect, promote and preserve the human rights of all its citizens. This is why we are committed to deepening the institutions of our democracy.
Only a genuine democratization can engender a progressive respect for human rights because the citizens themselves will develop an understanding their rights and correspondingly demand their recognition by the State. It is important that democratization is seen as one of the most effective strategies for achieving the implementation of human rights. As a consequence we must promote that democratization. There is a direct connection between opting for human rights and making the major decision on a system such as a participatory democracy and a social market.
Thus, measures towards building up a free-market oriented society is always an aid to the promotion of human rights. A market economy is not possible without recognition of basic economic human rights. A free-market presupposes economic freedom, and people who take advantage of this freedom and therefore achieve success will demand participation in political decision-making and the protection of their non-economic freedoms. The birth of an economically successful and concomitantly self-reliant people can help attain the hopes of democratic development.
Because of our recent history, Filipino liberals believe that the Philippines has a role to play in promoting human rights and democracy in Asia. We must contribute constructively to the development of regional mechanisms for human rights protection, and create the conditions for supporting the democratic struggles in the region by advancing the cause of human rights. We have the ability to influence the direction and substance of human rights advocacy in the region as well as in the world by contributing to developments in international human rights both within and outside the United Nations.
In the light of all these, we shall:
• Realize a negotiated political settlement with all forces engaged in armed conflict with the state to ensure a just and lasting peace.
• Establish institutions for the full protection of the people’s civil, political, social, and economic rights guaranteed in the Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and International Covenants, grant freedom to all political prisoners, and work for the abolition of death penalty.
• Overall and reorient the military and police organizations; the military shall be a force for national defense, and in times of peace shall be utilized for civic and social projects; the police shall be fully de-militarized and professionalized;
• Reorganize the judiciary and prosecution services to weed out all incompetent and corrupt judges and public prosecutors; improve the quality of judicial officials trough a system of continuing legal education;
• Guarantee full respect for the civil and political rights of the person especially those involving criminal investigation. Including fundamental due process requirements, presumption of innocence, and rights of persons in custody of police forces.
• Reorganize the Independence of the Commission of Human Rights and implement measures leading to strengthening its Constitutionally mandated role of advancing and protecting human rights. Providing sufficient resources for its operations as well as for adequate compensation of victims of human rights violations.
• Advocate for the Establishment of a Regional Mechanism for Human Rights in the South East Asia region and participate actively in promoting human rights and democracy in other parts of the world. Prioritize negotiations and ratification of international human rights instruments and encourage other states to do the same.
6. Strengthening of Local Autonomy
The 1987 Constitution mandates that all local governments – autonomous regions, provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays shall enjoy local autonomy. Autonomous regions however shall enjoy a higher level of autonomy, that is, political autonomy. The 1991 Local Government Code has defined the powers of local governments, provided for the transfer of national functions to local governments (devolution), delegated central authority to regional offices (deconcentration), institutionalized participation of the civil society in local governance and administration (democratization), allocated the resources amongst the local governments (fiscal autonomy).
Local autonomy is key to national development. Without local autonomy, integrated national development cannot be fully achieved. Conversely, there can be no genuine local autonomy without national development. Both local autonomy and integration must be guaranteed and pursued together while respecting and balancing the powers and responsibilities of local governments on one hand and the national government on the other.
In order to achieve this two-pronged approach, the Party believes that:
• A system of power sharing between political subdivisions and central agencies must be clearly defined and operationalized. Conflicts between them on issues involving integration and those which cuts across boundaries must be resolved in favor of the central government while those purely local in favor of the local governments.
• Decentralization must be strengthened. Powers of local governments must be recognized to include not only those powers delegated to them by law but also those powers in furtherance of the general welfare and those not otherwise prohibited by law. The active nature of local governments must be encouraged.
• The private and corporate nature of local governments must be further emphasized for the purpose of allowing local governments to generate revenues. This will effectively lessen dependence on national government thereby achieving real fiscal and economic autonomy.
• Democratization at the local level must be enhanced and institutionalized. The different venues for popular participation in the Local Government Code of 1991 must be fully implemented and other non-mandated modes explored and harnessed.
Strict public accountabilities of local officials, both elective and appointive must be ensured. Policies, plans, budgets and ordinances issued and enacted by local governments must be in furtherance of the general welfare, consulted with those concerned and the general public informed.
7. Democratizing Elections
Election mirrors the state of democracy of a nation. When elections are rigged or very susceptible to fraud, supervised by a commission that owes its accountability to the Administration, election laws and regulations circumvented, and where violators are not punished, there is no genuine democracy. These must be systematically and structurally addressed and remedied. As Liberals, we understand that we cannot change our collective future unless and until we change our electoral system. Because of this, we are committed to electoral and constitutional reform. We shall not rest until the government of the Philippines fully belongs to the citizen it is there to serve.
Programmatic and lasting electoral reform must be in place. This involves codifying election laws and implementing them, combating the growing culture and technology of cheating, encouraging a genuine multi-party system and professionalizing the electoral commission.
To attain genuine electoral reform, the party affirms this principles and programs:
• The Commission on Election must be operationally independent of the administration and all political parties. The integrity of the Commission must be ensured and maintained. Appointees to the Commission must be independent, credible, with election expertise and must possess management skills. Disputes and election contests must be resolved with dispatch.
• The whole election process and the selection of all elective officials must be modernized and automated. This will dramatically reduce the opportunities for cheating and manipulation.
• A genuine multi-party system must be installed and encouraged. This may be achieved through a more proportional system of electing officials to cover all levels of government where half if not all are elected under the system.
• The general public must be made aware of the problems and effects of the cheating and made part of the solution and decision-making process. Regular dialogues between elective officials and their constituents must be institutionalized.
• A new election code must be adopted operationalizing and defining absentee voting, prohibiting political dynasties, installing a full computerization of elections, stricter public accountabilities, streamlining and simplifying the election process, among others.
8. Bureaucratic Reform
The liberal vision of a sovereign, democratic and free, just and peaceful, prosperous and equitable, and environmentally protected Philippine society shall be brought about by a CLEAN, HONEST and EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT that does not compromise the law and wages a willful battle against all forms of graft and corruption. It will be a government that leads by example; that restore decency in public service; and that promotes the best national traits and uplifts the moral values of our people.
We shall establish and ensure a clean, graft-free, and efficient government with a stable and highly professional civil service.
III. Social Program
Social policy should, we believe, be constructed around the principle of moral citizenship, which means equality of opportunity and equality of respect. Every individual must have the resources and opportunities necessary to be able to participate fully in society, and must have the right to be treated fairly and with dignity by other individuals and by government
But while there will have a minimum safety net for those who are excluded from the market or incapable of competing within it, providing equality of outcome for all is not the task of government. Providing equality of opportunity for all is. When acting to influence the shape of society, the balance of government actions should therefore be weighted towards enlarging opportunities than towards redistributing wealth for its own sake.
When acting in the sphere of welfare, health and education, government should, in general, be more concerned with defining the entitlements of the individual, assuring equality of access and quality of delivery and leaving the citizen to choose, rather than with providing the mechanism for delivery itself. Often an important task will be to teach people how to choose. Empowering individuals to follow their chosen destiny will always be preferable to simply providing services to the passive recipients of welfare.
Creating a society of opportunity, rather than dependency, is one way to tackle the increasing alienation of many individuals from society. Crime and violence are increasing, riots and demonstrations are exploding in our major cities, drug addiction is rocketing and police designated ‘hot-spot’ areas are spreading – yet, at the same time, the Philippines has an extremely large prison population. A fundamental rethinking of attitudes towards crime and policing is urgently needed.
9. SOCIAL REFORM AGENDA
The most serious problems besetting our country maybe attributed to the long-standing history of injustice to the under privileged. More than majority of the Filipino people continue to live in abject poverty. The Liberal Party is staunchly pro-poor. The party favors an open, pluralist, democratic society with a government that will serve the priorities and interests of the overwhelming majority of our people.
Liberals believes that there can be no meaningful democracy where the majority of the people are poor and weak. When our people remain hungry they cannot be truly free. Nor can we have economic recovery and growth without political stability – there can be no political stability without social justice. Social Justice as clarified by the Constitution means a more equitable distribution of wealth and political power. This implies serious commitment to the primacy of asset reform and progressively increasing access to resources in order to allow people to have greater control of their own lives. The current government has not made sincere initiatives at the substantial realization of the aspirations of the great majority of our people for social reform. For this reason, Liberals shall commit to deliver adequate resources for the full implementation of the goals of Social Justice.
It is in this light that the Liberal Party has formulated its Social Reform Agenda.
A. LABOR – Labor policies should reflect the kind of society we want: a free, just, and progressive society. Since we believe that Filipinos are capable of building a prosperous and vibrant economy controlled by Filipinos, for the primary benefit of the majority of the Filipinos, the Party proposes the following 5-points labor program:
• We believe that the State should ensure fair and adequate wages for employees and workers. Towards this end, the Party shall endeavor to establish an effective mechanism where the minimum wage or salaries for employees shall be periodically reviewed and accordingly adjusted recognizing the need of employers to a just return and profit from their capital vis-à-vis the requirements of their employees to cope with the minimum standards of a decent living.
• We believe that the State should afford protection to labor, especially to workingwomen and minors and those in hazardous employment. In this regard, the Party shall promote equality in employment; shall ensure equal work opportunities regardless of sex or creed; and shall regulate the relations between workers and employers.
• We recognize the right to collective bargaining and association. Therefore the Party shall ensure that trade unions and labor organizations shall be free from government and industry interference. It is committed to facilitate the means of communication and dialogue between them and other sectors in society.
• We believe that the gap that separates labor from management should be reduced, if not entirely eliminated. In this vein, the Party shall encourage both sides to view each other’s as partners, rather than adversaries. The party is also committed to the establishment of a mechanism where the employees of commercial, industrial or agricultural enterprise, with a sizable labor force, shall be represented in the governing board or management of the enterprise.
• We shall institute measures to protect working women by providing safe and healthful working conditions taking into account their maternal functions, and such facilities and opportunities that will enhance their welfare and enable them to realize their full potential in the service of the nation.
Towards this end, the Party shall ensure that paid vacations, company clinics and maternity leaves, and the like, are included in the minimum benefits and privileges of the employee. It shall also strive to provide support services for labor, such as cooperatives, credit and loan associations, recreations, day care, job-training and educational-related program for workers as well as their families.
B. AGRARIAN REFORM
• We recognize the fact that the nation depends on agriculture for nourishment and that a good majority of our people depends on it for their livelihood. In this connection, the party encourages agricultural productivity in staple crop-rice, corn, beans and other legumes. It shall support the giving of necessary incentives to all those engaged in farming in order for them to produce more. It shall also promote progressive scientific farming and modernization in agriculture suited to Philippine conditions.
• We support the policy to pursue a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. Since the 10-year implementation period for CARL has shown its inadequacies, we shall endeavor to enact a new and genuine agrarian reform law fundamentally based on the land-to-the-tiller-principle.
• We shall initiate a special program of small loans to farmers and cooperatives for biological pest control, natural fertilizers, pesticides and farm implements.
• We are also committed to the formulation and implementation of an agricultural price support program for rice, corn, beans, and other legumes. It shall also initiate a program to develop rice and corn seeds adaptable to our soil and climate, natural, non-chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides and produce farm inputs using raw materials and labor.
• We shall promote the formulation of cooperatives by farmers and farm workers. Cooperatives engaged in food production and rural industry shall be given maximum incentives and encouragement.
C. URBAN LAND REFORM AND HOUSING
Providing good housing. Decent, affordable and safe housing is vital to personal happiness and family life. We will encourage home ownership, but we recognize that the housing market has been distorted and we believe that choice in housing means providing more accommodation in both public and private sectors. We recognize the role of local authorities in the strategic management of housing provision. We will:
• Increase investment for housing building, renovation and repair. To encourage the involvement of local authorities in partnership with housing association in rural areas, we will provide 100% housing association grants for development in designated areas. A new organization, the Homes for Enterprise, will be seated to assist with the economic expansion of housing. Existing repair and improvement grants will be combined and we will allow regionally valid maximums to reflect variable costs.
• Introduce housing cost relief weighted towards those most in need and available to house buyers and renters. This will replace mortgage tax relief for future home buyers, which often helps most those who need it least, and causes enormous distortions in the savings and housing markets. People holding mortgages will be protected: they will have the choice of moving to housing cost relief or continuing to receive mortgages interest tax relief.
• Strengthen the rights of tenants, in both the private and public sector, by guaranteeing greatly improved standards of repair and maintenance and giving greater protection against harassment through a Tenants’ Charter. The Charter would be upheld by a Housing Tribunal, which would enable disputes to be resolved in a less formal way than through the courts. We will encourage LGU’s to pass control over management and maintenance of rented housing to tenants, exercised through boards of housing associations.
• Take immediate action on homelessness, which is reaching crisis proportions in the cities and in many rural areas. Short-term measures include paying income support to claimants in advance and assisting with initial deposits; the extension of the duty of local authorities to provide accommodation for 11-18 year olds; and encouragement for local authorities to assist each other with housing needs, together with the provision of resources to enable them to do so. We will also encourage and expand a refuge network for women and children. Planning laws must be altered so that in certain communities the number of non-family second homes and holiday homes can be controlled.
• Adopt new environmental standard for all buildings, commercial and domestic. We will introduce a requirement for energy audits on all new buildings as a precondition for issuance of licenses, such as provisions for solar energy and other energy-saving measures. Homes, which meet the new standards, will be exempt from taxes on house purchase. We will encourage those planning new houses to take passive solar energy sourcing into account.
D. IMPROVE SOCIAL SERVICES
Liberals will invest in local services to enable communities to thrive. Our aim is to ensure that individuals of all backgrounds and means can live free of the fear of sickness, poverty and crime.
The steps we outline are necessary to create a fair, democratic and prosperous society, in which individuals are able to make their voices heard and develop their talents and skills to the full. We believe that people can realize their full potential not as isolated individuals, but as members of thriving and responsible communities. We will invest in a network of community services – health, housing, crime prevention, social security, arts and sports – to improve the quality of choices and opportunities for everyone.
Guaranteeing high-quality health care. Liberals remain steadfastly committed to enable everyone to live free of the fear of illness, injury and disability, to provide healthcare free at the point of delivery and regardless of ability to pay. Our priorities are:
• A decent level of health service funding, including an annual real increase to match the cost of new technology and the growing number of children and elderly people who need health services most. We will start to rectify the under funding suffered by the Health Service workers, invest more in renovating and constructing new health service buildings.
• Health Promotion – Keeping people healthy, and treating the root cause of ill health. We will provide resources for preventive medicine, health education and occupational health, invest in screening programs for the prevention of disease, tackle the problems of drug abuse, ban tobacco promotion, promote free consultations for the indigent especially those involving for EENT test and dental checkups.
• We will increase resources for primary health care. We will restore a comprehensive dental screening service in schools. We will require all governments to take account of the impact on health of their decisions – of crucial importance in areas such as industrial investment, housing, social security and environmental protection. We will commit the necessary resources to tackle the HIV virus.
• Real choice in health care. We will introduce an effective Patient’s Charter, including right to hospital treatment within a specified time – especially the poor as well as accident victims, guarantee access to health records, and introduce a comprehensive no-fault compensation scheme.
• Better health care for women. We will ensure access to clinics providing health promotion, counseling, family planning, screening services particularly for cervical, and breast cancer, and advice on maternity and child care. We will increase the availability both of treatment by women health professionals and of home birth.
• High quality community care, available through voluntary, private and local authority services to people unable to care for themselves. We will give users control over the options for care and provide services in a way that guarantees individuals maximum independence while retaining existing community links. We will create a Community Care Commission to guarantee standards of provision. We will provide bridging finance for local authorities for the transition to the new legislative arrangements on community care.
• Investment in Health Workers, including in-service training, especially in areas of significant shortage and changing roles. We will reform medical staffing and training to replace the consultant-led hierarchy with teams of accredited specialists. We shall promote the right of health workers at all levels of the service.
• Creating a common structure of local management for hospitals and community units that will establish local planning and uniform terms and conditions of service for health workers. We will bring all trust back within the overall framework of health board management.
Ensuring a decent income for all. The tax and social security systems are long overdue for reform. Our objectives are to simplify and integrate the two systems, to mount a determined assault on poverty and dependence, and to protect our citizens from want. We will work towards an eventual creation of a new Citizen’s Income – a living wage, as mandated by the constitution which shall be payable to all irrespective of sex or status. For pensioners, the Citizen’s Income will be well above the present pension. Unpaid work will be recognized as valuable. Women caring in the home, for example, will receive an independent income from the state for the first time. The Citizen’s Income will be buttressed by a single benefit for those in need, unifying income support and family credit, with supplements for people with disabilities and for childcare support. These reforms will ensure that every citizen is guaranteed a decent minimum income, whether or not they are in employment. Our immediate priorities, which will act as steps toward the Citizen’s Income, include:
• Immediate improvement in benefits. We will increase Child Benefits for each child. We will establish a Social Fund Network, setting realistic cash limits and allowing access to soft loans and grants.
• Increase the basic pension benefits immediately. The higher pension will be paid to every pensioner, regardless of their contributory record, to end the indignity of means testing. After this, we will update the basic pension every year in line with average earnings.
• Creating a comprehensive disability income schemes. We will provide a statutory framework of protection, including employee representation on occupational pension trusts.
• Unifying income tax and employees’ insurance (SSS/GSIS) contributions so that the two taxes are collected and administered together and paid on the same income, whether from earnings, investments, capital gains or perks.
Guaranteeing equal opportunities. A forward-looking society places an equal value on the contribution of all it’s citizens – and benefits from the participation of all. Yet in today’s society many groups of individuals are systematically discriminated against by a State, which fails to recognize their right to equality of opportunities. Liberals will:
• Fight discrimination. Reinforce existing protection in the courts against discrimination on the ground of sex, race, age, disability, religion or sexual orientation. We will strengthen the Commission on Human Rights to assist individuals to take legal action in cases of discrimination of other breaches of the rights guaranteed in the Convention.
• Guarantee the right of all women. We will guarantee equal pay for work of equal values; require public authorities and private contractors holding public contracts to be equal opportunity employers and improve childcare support and facilities.
• Extend the opportunities of young people. We will entrench young people’s right of representation in bodies affecting their lives and well being such as college governing bodies. We will place a statutory obligation on local authorities to provide a comprehensive youth development programs in partnership with the private sector, and we will invest in leisure and recreation facilities, and encourage different summer work programs. Young people will have the right to confidential medical advice and treatment.
• Make old age a time of opportunity. We will introduce a flexible period for retirement for men and women. We will increase choice for elderly and retired people by encouraging openings in voluntary and part-time work, and widening the availability of education, sports activities, the arts and recreational facilities.
• Protect the right of indigenous people and other communities. We will reinforce legislation to ensure equal opportunities for all, in housing, employment, education and training. We shall protect the communities’ to ancestral domain and to preservation of their cultural identity. We will place a positive value on a pluralist, diverse and multicultural society.
• Work with people with disabilities and their organizations to draw up a character of rights for people with disabilities. We will enact a Disabled Persons Act, giving priority to the development of advocacy schemes.
10. CULTURAL HERITAGE
The Liberal Party envisions a country that is fully developed in all dimensions – a country that is developed not only economically and politically but socially and culturally as well. The party’s socio-cultural agenda endeavors to build a nation of United Filipinos who posses a sense of cultural loyalty and political dedication to the nation, share a common national goal or destiny; and are proud of their distinct Filipino identity.
• We believe that a collective Filipino identity can only be developed by instilling national pride. To this end, the Party is committed to the enhancement and development of a progressive and nationalistic leadership among the people, constantly reminding them of their historical role in the pursuit of freedom and democracy against colonizers and dictatorships.
• We believe in the Philippine society that is liberated, secured and developed, with faith and confidence in itself, justifiably proud of what it is, of what it is has accomplished, and strong enough to face all manner of adversity.
• We believe in the establishment of a moral and ethical society, whose citizens are strong in spiritual, moral and ethical values and imbued with the highest of ethical standards.
• We believe in a liberal and tolerant society where Filipinos, regardless of sex or creed, are free to practice and promote their customs, cultures and religious beliefs and continue to feel that they belong to one nation.
• We believe in a caring culture and society, a social system in which society’s interest will come before personal or selfish interest. We envision a society that ensures the security of the person built around a strong and resilient family system, tempered by the rights of the individual and the concern of the community.
11. EDUCATION
Filipino citizens are our greatest assets. Liberals will invest in people to enable every individual to fulfill, and, in so doing, build the nation’s economic and social strength. We aim to create a first-class education system for all. Not just by funding, but also through reforms which increase choice and opportunity for each citizen.
Liberals start from the belief that every individual whatever their age, sex, background or ability, possesses a unique potential and a valuable contribution to offer society. Our target is excellence for all. This requires more relevant courses, higher standards and improvement provision. Excellence also has a cost. We will guarantee that Liberals will increase investment in education by PhP200 million in the countrysides within the first year. Our priorities for investment are preschool education, education and training for 16-20 year olds, vocational training in technology and adult education.
Placing Education at the Heart of the Community
a. Create an active learning community. There is a continuing and developing role for the community education service. Local authorities will be given a statutory duty to provide, in partnership with the voluntary sector, a range of educational and learning opportunities within communities.
b. Freedom of choice in education must be a basic right of education. Such freedom of choice must be exercised with in the constraints of physical accommodation and the need to maintain acceptable pupil/teacher ratios. Parents also have a right to educate their children in independent schools and that right will be respected. On the other hand, the financial needs of state school must take priority over helping with fees with fees for those wishing to enter the private school system. Where a demand exists for such alternative approaches to education, such schools will be encouraged to enter into service-contract arrangements with the local governments, through the school boards and public funds could be made available.
c. Local authorities and parents in partnership. Liberals believe that the day-to day running of our school needs a period of stability. School Boards should therefore continue. While the future School Boards should be reviewed, any changes will only be made after the fullest consultation with all concerned. The priority area of reform would be to give an effective voice to parents and teachers in the determination of policy at the basic education levels.
B. Aiming High by Raising Standards
Our aim is to simply to give the Filipinos a world-class education system, in which high quality is key. We will:
a. We shall ensure that education, along with other social services, shall in real terms receive the top budgetary allocation in accordance with our development goals.
b. Create the framework for high standards by clarifying the mandates of the Department of Education and the Commission of Higher Education, defining their responsibilities, and ensuring accountability for oversight of all education and training.
c. Improve inspections. We will commission on a regular basis a fully independent Inspectorate of Education and Training, properly staffed and funded, to report on the entire range of public and private provision for education from preschool education to universities. Local school superintendents will be answerable to the Inspectorate, which will also have a new role as Education Ombudsman. We will carry out a School Building Audit alongside a regular a local school inspection, to assess the physical state of school and equipment.
d. Support teachers. We will improve teachers’ salary levels and promotion structures to maintain quality. We will improve training for new teachers and develop in-service training.
Educating the Individual
Liberals will ensure that every individual can receive high-quality education and training throughout their life from preschool to retirement. But the current system places too little emphasis on the vocational achievements. We will:
• Guarantee preschool education from the age of four. This must become a statutory provision. Local authorities will be given a statutory duty to provide in partnership with the voluntary sector, a range of provision through day nurseries, playground, family, centers, nursery schools and preschool education provision for all parents of 4-5 years olds who want it, in the form they choose.
• The present policy of free education to all students in public elementary and secondary school must be maintained. Gifted students from poor family shall be assisted by the state to enable them to undertake and finish their studies.
• Introduce a diversity of education provision. Liberals want to see balance in the curriculum between the academic and practical, the vocational and purely cultural. Secondary school must aim for as many as possible of their pupils to become fluent in at least one additional language. They will do this in partnership with their feeder primary schools where children will be introduced to the appropriate second language at an early age. We shall promote literacy in language of high technology in order for the future generation to compete globally in next century. We will encourage individual school to develop their own particular ethos, whether in relation to dress or discipline, development of particular strength in science and technology, arts, regional or foreign languages, or sports, and thus widen parent and pupil choice.
• Assure higher quality skills training. We believe that everyone should remain in at least part time education or training until they are 20. We will legislate so that those who enter work at 16 will have a minimum of one day education or training each week on approved courses leading to recognized qualifications.
• Reduce class sizes. We will aim to reduce maximum class sizes so that no registration class in the country need have more than 30 students. In this way, the progress of each individual is adequately monitored and their different needs met.
• Improve special educational needs provision. The integration of special needs children into mainstream schools has important benefits for all the pupils involved. We will require schools to prepare for every child with special needs who is not currently covered, an indicative statement to identify needs, set targets and report progress. There is however a continuing need for special schools and for specialist units where children spend some time within the unit and some within the mainstream school.
• Promote education for life. We do not see education as something that happens just at school or college. Every citizen should be entitled to a period of retraining or education at a time of their choices during their adult lives, based on distance learning costs. We will increase the number of access courses for mature students and invest in retraining for those in mid-career. We will fund crash courses in main areas of skills deficiency and aim in particular to help the long-term unemployment.
• Along with the development of vocational and technical skills and the strengthening of the science and mathematics departments in all schools and colleges, students shall be encouraged to seek and know the truth, broaden their intellectual outlook, increase their social awareness and their sense of responsibility to the community, and deepen their commitment to the ideals and values of a free, independent and just society.
D. Open the doors to Higher Education
Our country’s higher education system still provides excellent standards of education, but it does so for too few people. Liberals aim to increase participation and increase flexibility in studying for degrees. Not all students want to follow traditional four-year courses. We will:
• In crease participation in higher education. We will broaden the degree system and make it more flexible by establishing a system based on transferable credits, qualification after two, three or four years, and summer schools. Government policy is cutting standards by increasing numbers without adequate funding. We will maintain standard in traditional higher education and add more opportunities for learning from home. We will widen access by extending franchising, open and distance-learning. We will restore student entitlement to benefit and extend student financial support to include part-time students.
• In public vocational schools and in State colleges and universities, free education shall be given to students with the requisite talents and aptitudes. State scholarships covering not only tuition fees but expenses for books, board and lodging, transportation, and other incidental items, shall be awarded to students with sufficient means but endowed with exceptional talents, as determined by means of competitive examinations.
• Increase the number of students in higher education to three million by the year 2005. As well as more young people, we will particularly encourage the participation of women, people from minority ethic and poorer backgrounds, and people with disabilities to have access to higher education.
• Increase flexibility courses. We will introduce a credit-based system, enabling students to achieve a diploma after the equivalent of three years, with the option of a further one or two years study leading to a degree. We will make financial assistance available for part-time study.
• Fund students properly. As our plans for the reform of tax and benefit are implemented we will establish a Student Income Entitlement to which all students, both full and part-time, will be eligible.
• Guarantee quality. The Commission for Higher Education shall ensure that as number rise, quality does not suffer. We will establish a proper career structure for research fellows and set up a Pay Review Body for academic staff to halt the brain drain.
• Invest in research. We will immediately increase the science and technology budget, and raise it steadily thereafter. We will also establish new research Councils for all relevant disciplines.
12. Law and Order
Protecting the Community. Over the past ten years recorded crimes has risen faster than at any times in our history. Meanwhile, prison condition has deteriorated and the public has lost confidence in the criminal justice system. Liberals will reverse this trend by:
• Creating safe and secure communities. We will give local authorities the powers to develop comprehensive community crime prevention programs, improve services to victims and encourage Neighborhood Watch and Safety City Programs. We will pay special attention to the underlying social problems in high-crime areas, particularly to prevent young people drifting into crime.
• Putting more police officers on the beat. We will re-deploy police resources in order to increase police presence in local communities and establish local neighborhood officer support systems. We will decentralize budgetary control to police subdivisions. We will encourage recruitment campaigns and training for promotion to increase the number of women officers in the police force and encourage appropriate promotion to the higher ranks. Multicultural tolerance, gender-sensitivity, and human rights training will be incorporated in their basic course and shall form basis of promotions.
• Reforming the criminal justice system. We will extend legal aid, ensuring that justice is more widely available. We will encourage “restorative justice”, in which mediation between victims and offenders provides reparations for those who suffer form crime.
• Radically reforming conditions inside prisons, reducing overcrowding, improving prison officers’ morale and punishing offenders where possible within the community. We will extend the rights and responsibilities of prisoners; and create the post of Prison Ombudsman.
• Introduce a system of efficient and effective crime and drug abuse prevention, and of criminal justice, including reform and rehabilitation of criminal offenders.
Our Pledge
Because we believe in stable government supported by a majority of the Filipino people, we shall not only campaign wholeheartedly for your votes in the coming election, but we also make a pledge for the period after the election. Our aim will be the creation of stable government for our country and more a democratic basis for the future governments. Liberals will neither support nor participate in a government that turns its back on reform. Any minority government that tries to play games with the constitution in order to cling to power, promoting instability and avoiding the moral challenge and responsibility of democracy, will have to contend with us.
That is our pledge.
(Source: liberalparty.ph)