Conspicuously absent from the list of priority bills presented by President Noynoy Aquino to Congress during the last Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting was the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill. The Palace explained that more time would be needed to study the bill and address the concerns regarding its specific provisions. While it is good that the Aquino administration appears to be taking the matter seriously, it is also disappointing to see that the powerful push LEDAC could have given to the FOI bill was wasted; no prioritization was given to a legislative measure clearly integral to Aquino’s supposed goal of eradicating corruption.
There are pending versions of the bill in Congress, and to the credit of the administration bloc, some of the versions have been sponsored by Aquino’s close allies. However, the Philippines continues to hold the dubious honor of being one of only 15 countries with still pending FOI legislation—and this will remain so for as long as Aquino does not initiate moves to ensure the swift passage of the bill.
At the heart of the FOI legislation is the need for a guarantor to the right to access of information. While most constitutions mention such a guarantee, without the necessary legislation to quantify and enforce this, oftentimes these guarantees are deemed toothless. This maximum disclosure of information, in the spirit of transparency and accountability, is FOI’s underlying principle—and if information is not made available to the public, there must be a strong reason for doing so.
The implications of the FOI bill in a country like the Philippines are very real and practical. For one, the FOI bill will spell the revelation of the foul practices that have plagued present and past administrations. We had a taste of the power of the FOI bill during the last State of the Nation Address, when Aquino revealed that Pagcor spent P1 billion pesos on coffee alone. Just imagine how things could have turned out had we been able to access such information before the irregularities got that bad. Even more anomalies like this can be unearthed—not just by the president of the republic but by the people themselves—with the help of FOI legislation.
Having said that, the Palace’s recent decision not to include the bill in its list of priorities is certainly a letdown. Aquino’s campaign slogan, “kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap,” made the Filipino people hope that the new administration would do everything in its power to end the culture of corruption in government. These hopes, however, are now slowly giving way to a status quo that is all too familiar: promises not being kept and the battle against corruption taking another step backward. The FOI bill has been pending in Congress for over a decade now, and the unacceptable delay in the passing of this bill signifies how futile anti-corruption advocates’ and lobbyists’ efforts are in the face of powerful governments that always seem to have a lot to hide.
How can we fight corruption effectively without government guarantees of transparency and accountability in the first place? Without this bill, unscrupulous government officials will always find it too easy to deceive even the most vigilant public, and the Filipino people will only be frustrated in its long-drawn war against corruption.
