JUNE 4, 2010 (Friday) will go down in the history of this country as “a day of infamy”. On that last session day, the House of Representatives failed to ratify the freedom of information (FOI) bill which would have gone a long way in protecting the Filipino people from shady government transactions detrimental to public interest.
The landmark piece of legislation, which had been hibernating in Congress for the past nine years, could not be acted upon for lack of a quorum. However, it can still be refiled in the incoming 15th Congress.
Hopefully, the 15th would be more enlightened than this lameduck 14th. This is being too optimistic, considering that there is a distinct possibility that the 15th Congress would be composed mostly of lawmakers who served in the 14th or the previous Congresses during which the FOI proposal hadlanguished for so long.
The Arroyo administration had been rocked by charges of massive graft and corruption, misgovernment and deception which would not have been possible if there was a freedom of information law. Such a law would have lifted the shroud of secrecy over government transactions and data.
Of course, there are exceptions to the implementation of the FOI, such as government dealings that need to be kept under wraps for reasons of national security and internal defense, or in the case of diplomatic relations and ongoing negotiations that have to do with commercial secrets, and, not the least, personal information that would lead to unwarranted invasion of privacy.
Otherwise, the FOI is the people’s shield against unscrupulous public officials who are in government only to enrich themselves at the expense of taxpayers’ money and the public weal. Instances of such nefarious activities have claimed as victims the citizens of this country who, in the absence of an FOI, have been powerless to bring the crooks to justice where they could be judged guilty beyond reasonable doubt and meted the corresponding penalty.
But that remains a consummation devoutly to be wished for as long as our lawmakers fail to pass a freedom of information law. To those who have passionately batted for the FOI, the 14th Congress will pass into history as one which refused to protect the Filipino people from corrupt officials through the passage of an FOI law. The 14th Congress had a golden opportunity to do just that, but instead allowed June 4, 2010 (Friday) to pass into history as the 14th Congress’ “Day of Infamy!”
