Angara: FOI will lessen Senate probes
Senator Juan Edgardo Angara. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—There would be less Senate inquiries if the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill was approved, Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Sonny Angara said.
“‘Pag may FOI na, hindi na kailangan ng Senate investigation para makakalap lang ng impormasyon. ‘Pag andyan na ang ebidensya, kahit ang isang ordinaryong Pilipino pwede na mag-file ng kaso sa isang opisyal sa gobyerno,” Angara said in his speech at an FOI forum in Makati early this week.
“If there was a need (for a Senate investigation), the facts would have already been established. Unlike now where people are hanging on to every senator’s word and question during investigations to uncover the truth,” Angara said
Under the Senate-approved FOI bill or Senate Bill No. 1733, government agencies should make available to the public for scrutiny, copying and reproduction all information pertaining to official acts, transactions or decisions, as well as government research data used as basis for policy development.
Angara, one of the authors of SB 1733, noted that the Senate was “lucky” under the Aquino administration as it has been “very open” in facing issues.
The senator cited President Benigno Aquino III’s action to send “a whole battalion of Cabinet officials” to the Senate to answer questions regarding the Disbursement Acceleration Program after it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
“Not all administrations are like-minded in that sense. The past administration, when asked to talk about certain deals or contracts that the government had entered into, they invoked the executive privilege as a ground to not send officials of the Cabinet to legislative investigations,” Angara said.
The Senate already approved the bill last March while the House of Representatives approved last week its own version of the measure in the committee level.
Angara said the biggest challenge for FOI proponents was how to convince the grassroots that it is a much-needed measure.
“How do we convince a person living in a far-flung area, which has no Internet access, that a piece of information would make his life better? That’s the fundamental challenge we have,” he said.
If government funds were lost to corruption, there would be less funds for public services, Angara said.
“Hindi kasi nakikita at naiintindihan ng pangkaraniwang mamamayan yung importansya, kung paano makatutulong sa kaniya yung impormasyon. Kung maraming perang kinukurakot sa gobyerno, e di mas kaunti ang nagagastos para sa publiko. Yung impormasyon pwede iyon gamiting sandata panlaban sa mga tiwali sa gobyerno,” said the senator.
Despite this, Angara remained optimistic that Congress would pass the FOI bill.
“I’m confident that we will pass it. The question is when will we pass it. Is it gonna be sooner or later? If we do it later, all of us will be poorer. Our people will be poorer, our government will be poorer,” he said.
“The Philippines is one of the first democracies and yet, ironically, we’re not one of the first to have an FOI. We need an FOI bill to deepen our democracy,” Angara said.
“The FOI law is what I like to call a quiet revolution to policy. Whether we do it sooner or later, it will make a sea change in our political life,” Angara added.
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