The Aquino administration is dragging its feet on the Freedom of Information bill despite the Senate passing its own version this week. It’s no small wonder why.
The Palace said it is up to “citizens’ sentiments” to propel the Lower House to pass the FOI bill which has yet to go through the committee level. Considering the propensity of some lawmakers to file libel charges against their critics, there’s every reason to doubt it will gain traction within the year.
Unlike the Senate , whose members are elected at large, the members of the House of Representatives are elected per district and are thus more likely to be so parochial and slavish to their own well-being first and then that of their barangay officials, with little or no regard for the national interest.
These lawmakers are more prone to filing libel suits against critics particularly local media outlets based in their districts. An FOI bill, a genuine reform-oriented FOI bill, would only constrain them against taking legal action.
This is not to say that the Senate version is perfect. It will still be reviewed in a bicameral conference committee and reconciled with the Lower House version before submission to the President.
This is where the President’s influence comes in. The Liberal Party (LP) holds the most number of seats, yet the Palace has played it safe by saying it won’t pressure the Lower House to pass its own version of the FOI bill unlike its previous campaign to pass the now-signed Reproductive Health Law.
This is where one questions this administration’s priorities. Unlike the RH Law which is heavily weighed down by opposition from the Catholic Church, the FOI has found no similar opposition other than from public officials who want to hide their shenanigans away from public attention.
The sticky points remain nondisclosure due to national security, the decriminalization of libel, the right to reply, and so forth. The public has lost (for now) the campaign to remove the online libel provision of the Anti-Cybercrime Law but the FOI bill remains an uphill climb.
Public demand for immediate passage of the FOI bill still resonates in various media outlets, the academe, militant groups and civil society.
Who’s afraid of requiring transparency of public records? It seems only congressmen, who are just as reticent about disclosing the use of their pork barrels.
The Aquino administration can certainly do a better job of convincing its congressional allies to lobby support for and finish what the Senate had accomplished with its passage of the FOI bill. After all, it was President Aquino’s (unfulfilled) campaign to ensure this would ripen into law.