This is regarding the commentary “Learning from an awakened dragon” (7/21/21) by Roland Simbulan.
The transformation of China from an impoverished nation into a global economic power in a matter of four decades was made possible by the Communist Party of China (CPC), which enjoys monopoly under a one-party system.
This enabled the CPC to launch a strategic vision that conceptualized policies and long-term plans and programs through a combination of authoritarian rule and a market-oriented economy based on state-led capitalism.
Our country, on the other hand, is under a democratic system of government with a multiparty system characterized by personality politics, with policies and long-term plans and programs that change every six years.
The challenge is for us to call for strong leadership from our leaders, especially the members of Congress which is the policy-making body, and for them to institutionalize a strategy that envisions long-term plans over 50 years.
Such plans will undertake reforms in the economic, social, and political order to address the socioeconomic inequality and mass poverty in the country, by adopting the mechanics of the Chinese model of development into our democratic system of government.
Antonio de Guzman, reform48@protonmail.com