Transparency under Noy a myth

Editorial

The sticking point in the Freedom of Information (FoI) bill and the reason for its resilience against being enacted are proving to be the Right of Reply (RoR) provision which Noynoy appears to have explicitly wanted inserted, notwithstanding the denials of Malacañang.

The RoR, however, was not intended to be an insertion at all since it was pushed as a bill to provide a form of guaranty against bad press coverage that would require media outfits to set aside space for the subject of a critical story to issue a reply.

The FoI is a distinct proposal for transparency which many countries of the world, which professed adherence to democracy, had adopted to bind the government to openness.

The Philippines is among the last of a handful of countries that is yet to have an FoI law while 90 countries already have enacted measures requiring the government to open information for public scrutiny.

The country is described as a pretender to transparency and in online encyclopedia Wikipedia, it gave an entry on the Philippines regarding the FoI measure as saying: “Article III, Section 7 of the country’s Bill of Rights recognizes the people’s right to information on matters of public concern. Its Supreme Court has upheld this right in many of its decisions. However, there is no legislation that sets the procedures for access and disclosure of information and provides penalties for officials who fail to release the requested information, without justifiable reasons.”

Indonesia ratified an FoI law in 2008 despite the Philippines claiming to have more democratic space.

The FoI laws of most countries also do not include qualifications such as the RoR which is a provision that will dilute the gains for transparency if it is included in the FoI law.

Noynoy, in an apparent slip of the tongue, referred to the RoR as essential to responsible journalism during a recent convention of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP). The Palace then tried to cover up for Noynoy in letting the cat out that he is backing the RoR  insertion in the FoI bill that ties up with the call of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa on the spineless Rep. Ben Evardone who handles the bill as chairman of the House committee on public information, prior to Evardone’s adjourning deliberations on the bill, which has yet to even hurdle the first reading through Evardone’s committee.

The call apparently was a marching order from Malacañang to delay the proceedings for the bill to assure the insertion of the RoR provision.

Evardone has been issuing one alibi after another, including the ridiculous claim of having no room at the House to deliberate on the bill to throw roadblocks on the FoI Act.

Noynoy, for his part, has been paying lip service to the passage of the FoI bill, mainly because its enactment was one of his campaign promises, but he is actually leading the push to assure the death of the bill.

Noynoy had said he is supporting the measure yet it did not get a certification as an urgent bill from the Palace. The Palace said that Noynoy was also misquoted about voicing his support for the RoR yet he could have not ordered Evardone, who keeps on harping his being a loyal follower of the Liberal Party and Noynoy, to suspend the bill, if not for his desire for the insertion of the provision.

Evardone said that the FoI bill still has a chance of making it through the 15th Congress but the way it is being pummeled by Noynoy and his allies, its death is almost a certainty.

Noynoy’s fear of transparency is the death knell for the FoI Act.