EYE ON ETHICS

The Freedom of Information Act—a reconciled version of the Senate and House versions– died in the final day of the 14th Congress, after being approved by the bicameral conference committee and ratified by the Senate in February of this year.

It was the farthest the bill had gone since the first version filed in 1992 (See sidebar, Is this the end? Fourteen years of effort—but still counting). Widely expected to pass, among other reasons because of assurances to that effect by House Speaker Prospero Nograles and Malacanang’s claim that it was supporting it, the bill can be reintroduced in the 15th Congress—but it will have to start from square one.

To help speed it along, the advocates of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act have asked the next president to help realize the passage into law of the long-delayed bill that’s meant to help ensure transparency and accountability in governance.

President-elect Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III, who was among the senators who voted for the Senate Bill 3308, the Senate version of the bill, responded by promising to make congressional passage of the FOI bill a priority of his legislative agenda once he assumes office this July.

House leadership fails

House Speaker Prospero Nograles had practically promised passage of bill. But the House failed to even hold a separate session last May 31 during which it could act on pending legislation, arguing that the lawmakers should concentrate on the national canvassing for president and vice president instead.

The June 4 session (See sidebar: FOI bill sponsors were among the ‘absentees’) was the bill’s last chance to become law before the 14th Congress passed into history. But Nograles suspended the June 4 session the minute Rep. Pedro Romualdo of Camiguin objected to Rep. Bienvenido Abante’s motion to ratify the FOI bill and moved for a roll call. The House needed 135 warm bodies in the plenary hall to constitute a quorum.

Representatives Abante and Joel Villanueva of Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Party-list opposed the roll call, but eventually agreed to it when the secretary-general of the House assured them that there were at least 142 representatives on the floor. The secretary- general’s announcement that there were, after all, only 128 present moved Nograles to adjourn the session.

FOI bill advocates and supporters speculated that the June 4 session had been scripted by Nograles and Malacañang, a suspicion boosted by the fact that among the absentees in the June 4 session were presidential sons Reps. Diosdado “Dato” M. Arroyo and Juan Miguel Arroyo, and outgoing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s brother-in-law, Rep. Ignacio Arroyo and her sister-in-law Ang Kasangga (Kasangga sa Kaunlaran Inc.) Party-list Rep. Ma. Lourdes Arroyo, as well as a veritable legion of Arroyo allies.

If it had been so scripted, it was only one of many demonstrations of cynicism in a government noted for its capacity to commit the most outrageous acts in the history of this so-called democracy.

The Philippines is the only Southeast Asian country under a democracy which has not legislated the freedom of information. Thailand, for one, has the “Official Information Act” since 1997. Indonesia, for another, have passed their own “Freedom of Information Act” last April 30, 2010.