SENATOR Grace Poe has given assurances on the immediate passage of the Freedom of Information bill that gives flesh to the citizens’ constitutional right to information on matters of public concern, citing the costly lesson learned from the hackneyed phrase “secrecy corrupts, and absolute secrecy corrupts absolutely.”
In seeking greater transparency in government, Poe sponsored in plenary Senate Bill No. 159 or the proposed FOI law and sought backing from her colleagues in the light of the publicly avowed support from the administration on the measure.
“We truly appreciate the administration for its keen push of the FOI that would effectively make transparency, accountability and integrity as yardsticks in government performance,” said Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public information and mass media.
“We remain confident we will pass this FOI in the present Congress because our citizens cannot afford to wait any longer to fully exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to access critical information,” she added.
Senator Sonny Angara, who has been rooting for the passage of the FOI bill since he was a congressman, urged his colleagues to support FOI, believing it is a key to curb corruption and abuses of some of those in the government.
He said it is likely the scandals that exploded last year could have been avoided if there was FOI.
The proposed FOI law, despite multi-partisan support in previous Congresses, faced deliberate delays and remained in limbo in the legislature for nearly three decades amid lukewarm backing from the Executive branch and their allies in the House of Representatives.
The FOI bill is Poe’s first bill in the 17th Congress.
The landmark measure – a consolidation of 14 bills – which covers the Executive, Judiciary and the Legislature, demands accountability across the public sector, prescribes procedures, remedies and defines limitations for citizens’ access to government record and data and even sets criminal, civil and administrative penalties for non-disclosure of information.
The measure also provides for mandatory disclosures of statements of assets, liabilities and net worth of public officials.
Exempted from disclosure, however, are those that will compromise national security, defense, law enforcement operations, foreign relations, trade and economic secrets and the constitutional right to privacy and safety.
While advocating access to information, Poe and the co-authors believe the right of an individual to privacy is equally sacred.
“Hence, under section 10 of our bill, the State is obligated to fully protect the right of privacy of individuals and ensure the disclosure of personal data under the custody of the State shall be done in accordance with the provisions of the Data Privacy Act of 2012,” she said.
Also, under the legislation, jail time and fines will be imposed on individuals who acted in bad faith over non-disclosure or those who willfully destroyed requested documents.
President Duterte issued marching orders to lawmakers to pass an FOI law and implement wide-ranging reforms.
While Malacañang issued Executive Order No. 2 implementing FOI only in the executive branch, Poe cited the need to institutionalize the right of the people to information on matters of public concern wnd fulfill the state’s mandate to implement a public policy of full public disclosure of all matters involving public interest.
In his budget message to Congress after submitting the proposed P3.35 trillion national expenditure program for 2017, Duterte urged Congress to act swiftly on the “long overdue”FOI, saying the State must “uphold the people’s right to demand information on government affairs, particularly on how their taxes are spent.”
The Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council composed of lawmakers and Cabinet, with the President as its chairman has included the FOI as among the priority measures of the Duterte administration.
Poe’s public information and mass media committee conducted two hearings on the FOI last Sept. 19 and 29.
In the 16th Congress, the Senate approved on third and final reading its version of the FOI bill on March 10, 2014 – or in record eight months from the filing of the measure.
She said: “Passing the FOI law is just the beginning. Beyond the law, we need to cultivate a culture of transparency and accountability. We need to create an environment where ordinary citizens are fearless enough to ask important questions and have the audacity to demand the truth. We should dare them to ask; dare them to act.”