Golez: Communist Party of China has nothing to teach Philippines

Former national security adviser Roilo Golez said that the Philippines did not have anything to learn form the Chinese Communist Party which does not allow freedom of speech in the country.

Philippines — A former national security adviser said on Wednesday that the Philippines has nothing to learn from the Communist Party of China a day after the ruling PDP-Laban announced that it wants to train its members in the ways of China’s ruling party.

Former Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez said that instead of learning the CPC’s ideology, the Philippines should study China’s industrialization that has propelled it to being the world’s second largest economy behind only the US.

“China's political system is one-party system. Ours is a democratic multiparty system. There's nothing we can and ought to learn from China's ideology,” he said.

Although China is effectively a one-party state, it has eight minor parties that have limited power on the national level.

Golez said China’s political ideology does not allow freedom of the press, assembly and speech.

He added that it also does not allow Facebook, a social media site widely popular among Filipinos.

“No bill of rights in China,” Golez, a graduate of the US Naval Academy, said.

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China actually states that "citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration." The country has, however, been accused by rights groups of censorship of the press and of the internet, and of cracking down on dissent.

On Wednesday, a newspaper reported that Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III discussed cooperation for “party building” with CPC officials in Fujian, a southeast province of China.

It reported that PDP-Laban and CPC entered into an agreement for the former’s members to undergo “policy training” in a provincial party school in the province.

The CPC has ruled the country since 1949 and does not tolerate any opposition and has been reported to quell any signs of dissent.

Just recently, Liu Xiaobo, the most prominent Chinese political prisoner and Nobel laureate jailed for advocating sweeping political reforms ang greater human rights in China, died at age 61.