Philippine's ruling political party, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) is seeking the assistance of Communist Party of China (CPC) to train its members according to their ideology.
According to the Philippine media, the CPC is in the process of discussing the training on party building when PDP-Laban President Aquilino Pimentel confirmed their meeting with key officials of China's only governing party.
Pimentel, who is also the Philippine senate president said, that 24 members of the PDP-Laban stayed in Xiamen City for almost a week for the series of meeting plan out for the Chinese ideology training.
The Chinese government said that CPC and PDP-Laban forged a new agreement for PDP-Laban members to undergo policy training at the CPC party schools to learn ideology, administration, policy directions and leadership. The CPC party schools are special academic institutions in China.
Pimentel, while in Xiaman, lauded Chinese officials and described Xiamen City as a model for development because of Xiamen's booming City that Philippine cities and municipalities can learn from.
When asked by journalists, why the PDP-Laban is interested in learning Chinese government and ideology, Pimentel told that this is just a move to enhance Philippines' relationship with China.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte earlier announced that he is realigning himself with China and he is separating his ways from long time ally, the US. Duterte is the Chairman of the PDP-Laban.
Describing himself a socialist, Duterte refused to exert ownership of the South China Sea despite the ruling of the United Nations backed court that, which says China has no full sovereignty over the waters adjacent to the Philippines. With Duterte's neutral position, China committed to provide loans and investment in the Philippines that are expected to boost the Southeast country's economy.
