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Nobel laureate and global icon Lech Walesa to visit the PHL


Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish President Lech Walesa will be coming to the Philippines this month upon the invitation of President Benigno Aquino III for a series of talks on the various aspects of democracy. Aquino invited Walesa “in recognition of his significant contribution and influence in promoting basic freedom, individual liberties and human rights,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a text message to GMA News Online Thursday. He said they are still finalizing the date and details of the courtesy call. Walesa, 69, has earlier expressed his admiration for the People Power revolution and for its leader, former President Cory Aquino, mother of the current President. Part of his admiration stems from the Catholic wellspring of Aquino’s faith. Walesa is a staunch Catholic. The former President of Poland is expected to arrive in Manila on November 24. Schedule While in the country, Walesa will be doing a series of talks at different institutions. “The Polish consulate in Manila decided to give institutions a chance to hear Walesa,” Bart Guingona of Pagbabago@Pilipinas Foundation told GMA News Online. Walesa will be gracing the 9th MediaNation Summit in Tagaytay City, where he will be the closing keynote speaker, discussing media’s role in an unfolding democracy. Aquino will give the opening keynote speech. The Polish leader will also address the Asian Institute of Management’s “Development at Work” Series. He will be discussing “The Politics of Reform: Protecting the Gains of Democratic Reform from the Enemies of Change." Walesa will also receive an honorary degree from the University of Sto. Tomas, where he will be giving a talk on Catholicism and leadership. He is also scheduled to give a talk at the De La Salle University on the positive contributions of academe, industry and government and at the Ateneo de Manila University and the Rotary Club of Manila on globalization, democracy and solidarity. Workers' icon Walesa, now considered one of the most important historical icons of the 20th century, won the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize for leading Poland's anti-communist movement. He was, however, in prison during that time. As an electrician in the Gdansk shipyards, he organized a series of illegal strikes in 1970 after workers protested the government’s decree raising food prices. The strike resulted in the death of 30 workers, which roused in Walesa the conviction that there needed to be change. Fired from his job for his involvement in the protests, he and his family were placed under surveillance and continually harassed. In 1980, another food price hike led to another strike at the shipyards. Walesa scaled the shipyard fence and once inside, became one of the strike leaders. This act of bravery was repeated through other ports in Gdansk and later inspired similar defiance across Poland. The government then relented and allowed the workers the right to strike and to the formation of a trade union—what was later to be known as Solidarity. Solidarity eventually grew to have a membership of 10 million and Walesa’s role as its leader and chief negotiator with the government gained him international fame. In 1981, Poland’s leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared Martial Law and Walesa along with other Solidarity activists and leaders were arrested. He was incarcerated for 11 months and in 1982, Solidarity was outlawed. In May and August 1986, he led workers’ protests in the shipyard and contributed prominently to accelerating of the process of political change. He became the Head of the Civic Committee of such political initiative espoused by the activists of the Polish opposition movement. Later he co-chaired the Round Table talks between the opposition and the communist government. This has resulted in the outlawed Solidarity movement becoming legal again, and in the parliamentary elections, which, although limited, led to the establishment of a non-communist government. Walesa was elected President of the Republic of Poland in 1990 and, during his term, he saw Poland through privatization and the transition to a market-economy. After losing the Presidential election in 1995, he established the Lech Walesa Institute, enabling him remain active both on the domestic and international stage. — BM, GMA News

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