Roman Diary of A Christian Diplomat
the DC played a dominant role in the politics of Italy for 50 years from its inception in 1944 until its final demise in 1994. The party was nicknamed the White Whale (balena bianca). It was succeeded by a string of smaller parties, including the Italian People’s Party, the Christian Democratic Centre, the United Christian Democrats, and the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats. Today, former Christian Democrats are spread among the centre-right Forza Italia, New Centre-Right, Union of the Centre and Populars for Italy, the centrist Civic Choice, the centre-left Democratic Party and Democratic Centre, and several minor parties. Christian Democracy was introduced into the Philippines in the 50s and 60s by the likes of Raul Manglapus and some Jesuits such as Frs. Horacio de la Costa and Pacifico Ortiz. It flourished among intellectuals in the 70s and 80s leading to the formation of the National Union of Christian Democrats (NUCD). The NUCD and its counterpart, the United Muslim Democrats of the Philippines (UMDP), adopted Fidel Ramos as its standard bearer in the election of 1992. I was proud to be the emissary to make the offer to the future President. By a twist of fate, however, the Lakas Party under Jose de Venecia, which merged with the NUCD-UMDP, became the surviving party. Christian Democrat Envoy When I was informed by the Foreign Secretary Raul Manglapus at a party caucus that he wished to send me to the Republic of Italy as Envoy to represent the country, I was pleasantly surprised. Queried about his decision, he elaborated that he wanted a partymate like myself to act as liaison officer between the local party and the CD international headquarters in Brussels. This would be cost-effective for the party since the Belgian capital was only a couple of hours of flying time from my intended posting. 18
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