by Alex Roldan
Instead of passing the Freedom of Information Act, which, as earlier promised by the House leadership, would happen before the end of the House’s last session, they allowed the almost decade-long endeavor at great expense to taxpayers’ money to die because an alleged lack of quorum. Kuno.
It is simply stupid to use the reason that there were not enough lawmakers present to constitute a quorum, hence the bill could not be passed. If the House leadership really wanted that law passed it would have been a done deal right then and there. What happened to the touted persuasive power of the Speaker over members of the Lower House majority of whom belong to the administration party in the first place?
I agree with the assertion of Congressman Villanueva of the party-list CIBAC that the Speaker should have ordered the “arrest” members of the House who at the time were reportedly to be in the vicinity of the Batasan Complex. Though the term “arrest” was clearly an exaggeration by the young legislator that irked the Speaker, thus his sarcastic reply, it was an expression of Villanueva’s disgust over the decision to declare a lack of quorum! Later, there were reports that, in fact, there were enough members of the House present to make up a quorum.
However, it is surprising to note that those who claimed that they were actually present but were marked absent, failed to insist that indeed they were present–body and soul–in the plenary hall of Congress!
There was no doubt in my mind that the whole process was staged. The bill was supposed to have been passed as early as February this year but, for one reason or another, was postponed several times until the last day of the 14th Congress. A despicable act by representatives who do not believe that the proposed law is important enough to deserve their imprimatur, and that any request for information on certain actuations of government are trivial and even vexatious.
This is wholly regressive. It is in fact a move to restrain openness and transparency and to sustain a culture of unaccountability and secrecy in government. The proposed law would have been a significant blow to that culture. The whole nation–except the scoundrels in and out of Congress–had been expecting for its passage over the years. All we wanted was simply to open up the process of governance!
The sole possible reason why it was not passed can only be that the bureaucracy and the political class want to restrict information to cover up their tracks and prevent any knowledge of wrongdoing.
Our dear lawmakers are, in effect, trying to stop a progressive piece of legislation – as it will again undergo the entire process, if the next congress intends to pursue this law. The bad thing is that, we will not be dealing with a completely new set of lawmakers. A significant number of them, many clearly involved in derailing this legislation, will be back after having been re-elected to the Lower House!
To our dear new honorable members of Congress, please be reminded, that access to information is key for democratic governance, as it reveals the principles and reasons behind informed policymaking, thereby making people participate and determine governance. Show to us that galit kayo sa mga buwaya and finally pass this proposed law the soonest time possible even if it means fighting the buwayas in your midst.
For comments, e-mail to: roldanalex@yahoo.com.
