Manila, Philippines – The PDP-Laban, the political party that carried the late President Corazon Aquino to Malacañang in 1986, has announced the appointment of businessman and ZTE-NBN whistleblower Joey de Venecia as secretary-general.

Party president lawyer Koko Pimentel said the party which has former Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and now vice president Jejomar Binay as member, is now in expansion mode in preparations for the 2013 polls.

De Venecia previously held the post of economic adviser to the party, whose founders include the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Vice President Binay, and former Senate president  Aquilino Pimentel Jr., father  of the incumbent party president.

Pimentel said De Venecia is “a great addition” to the party as his elevation to secretary-general “will now give PDP-Laban international appeal.”

The party’s top executives met last week to hear De Venecia’s presentation on what he learned from a recent visit to China.

De Venecia,  representing   Binay for a poverty alleviation summit,  pointed out that  within the last 30 years, some 240 million Chinese had been lifted from poverty to middle- class status.

Whether under the free market economy of the US or the West, or a communist system which evolved under China’s leadership, De Venecia said that what is important is the political will of a country’s leadership.

“PDP Laban can provide that will and that leadership to alleviate the majority of Filipinos living in abject poverty, and bring back good old moral values to society,” De Venecia said.

Since returning from the China trip, the party has received three more invitations to foreign countries to attend summits to improve the Philippines’ role in the global economy.