By Martin Benedict Perez

Philippine politics is not known for its parties, and these parties are not known for their ideologies or platforms. The acronyms often brandied during elections – LAKAS, BAYAN, LDP, PMP, UNO – are associated more with their personalities, colors and songs rather than with distinctive plans on how to instill fairness in our economy, propriety in our politics, and peace and order in society. Yet the vibrant nature of Philippine civil society has allowed those unsatisfied with the current parties to band together and put forward their own solutions. There are many political parties espousing a renewed politics of principle and the Ang Kapatiran Party (AKP) is one of them.

Born and founded as Kapatiran sa Pangkahalatang Kabutihan in August 2002 by Nandy Pacheco, the party is overtly against traditional politics, contemptuously referred to as trapo, which literally means dirt rag. It sees political parties not just as machines for select people to advance their interests, but as organizations that have failed to be the vessel for collective interests that they are supposed to be. Furthermore, even more fundamental to their politics is their call for change and renewal. They recognize that before any political reform can happen, there must first be a conversion of the mind and the heart. They are a party about character change before charter change.

AKP is proud of the God-centered politics that defines the party. In an interview with Planet Philippines, Eric Manalang, the Party Secretary-General, said AKP recognizes that politics has a human dimension and thus morality cannot be left out when talking about social change. The organization was founded on 10 principles, which include a belief in God; right to life and dignity of every human person; call to family, community, and participation; rights and responsibilities; option for the poor and vulnerable; dignity of work and rights of workers; solidarity; common good; care for God’s creation; and peace, active nonviolence and progressive disarmament. To accomplish these ends in an increasingly diverse and global Philippines, party leaders have assembled an ecumenical group and count Catholics, evangelical Christians, Muslims, and many other groups among their ranks.  

In its official website (www.angkapatiran.org), the party invites everyone to learn about its politics of virtue and politics of duty. Both derive inspiration from faith, believing that if everyone were to be just and right, then citizens and leaders will be responsible and accountable as well. These are not lofty ideals; they have very specific policy recommendations to make in various domains of human, social and political life.

In the moral dimension, they espouse the building of a nation of character and intelligence by discouraging of the glorification of sex and violence, the abolition of gambling, the end of torture and the death penalty, and the use of media for civic and moral education.

With regard to society, their primary objective is the creation of a gunless and nonviolent society. They give this much space on their website and this comes as no surprise. Manalang explained that their founder, Pacheco, was a staunch advocate of a gun control law. During the administration of President Cory Aquino, Pacheco submitted a petition with a million signatures in support of a gun control law but this was shot down by the House Committee on Peace and Order. So in pursuit of its new politics, AKP now has gun control as one of their central advocacies.

In terms of government and economics, the primary principles of AKP rest on accountability, opportunity, and fairness. It calls for the abolition of the pork barrel and the prohibition of political dynasties – two pillars of the patronage politics they are fighting against.

With the 2010 national elections on the horizon, party leaders believe the opportunity for AKP to bring their goals to reality is well within reach. Their first attempt to put up threer senatorial candidates in 2007 (Dr. Martin Bautista, Zosimo Paredes and Adrian Sison) did not succeed; their highest ranking bet, Bautista, placed No. 28. But it proved that they can get on the board despite having relatively smaller campaign machinery in contrast to the more prominent political parties.

Now, the party’s fortunes could be on an upswing. Discontent towards the administration has solidified over the past years, and recent calls for a moral revolution by Chief Justice Reynato Puno have been met by a non-partisan movement called the “Moral Force” advocating for clean, honest, and fair elections in 2010. AKP fits into this political environment quite well. Hope is now a buzzword in politics everywhere and the party has been calling for change even before the United States of America elected a candidate who ran on that simple yet powerful word.

In order to help make good on its thrust to make education a cornerstone of its platform, the AKP released the “Passport to a New Philippines” earlier this year. It serves as “a guide to political renewal and stability as it provides basic political education that touches on human life, the dignity of human person, the political community, politics, justice, peace, democracy, truth, separation of church and state, religion and politics.”

Ang Kapatiran Party is now in search of people who share its goals and are able to take part in the renewal of Philippine politics. True to who they are, there is not much noise and fanfare to their search. They avoid the political drama that unfolds in the media and replaces it with a genuine human interaction in rallies, forums, and various social events. They know that the change the seek lies in the people and thus they remain a genuine grassroots political organization – a brotherhood as their name translates – strongly bound not just in faith in God, but in the hope that politics can transform society for the better.