.jpg)
ATTY. MEL STA. MARIA: The advantage, questions, standard of a Corona testimony
Jessica Sanchez's rival in 'Idol' crown has severe kidney problems, needs immediate surgery - TMZ
Sensational Samal: More people flock to town of Jessica's mom after Sanchez makes it to Idol finale
NATO activates missile shield, reaches out to Russia
InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - For as long as the Philippines remains among the 15 countries that still have a pending Freedom of Information law, efforts at good governance will fall short of the ideal, notwithstanding the avowed campaign against corruption of the Aquino administration.
With this explanation, public administration expert and former national treasurer Leonor Briones on Tuesday gave President Benigno Aquino III a grade of 7 (on a scale of to 10, with 10 being the highest). Professor Briones, also SocialWatch Philippines Lead Convenor, told a forum on accountability the Aquino government must also weed out errants in the antigraft court Sandiganbayan, besides pushing the passage of the FOI, a measure that has been 13 years in the making through four congresses.
Briones lamented that the administration did not include the FOI bill among its priorities for the next six years, when such a law in place would have greatly boosted efforts among civic-minded citizens, in and out of government, to unearth wrongdoing and have the guilty punished.
"We still have to see results in terms of putting people in jail or bringing them to trial because after the hearings, after the investigations, after the newspaper headlines, we want to see enforcement of the law and of penalties because that has been the problem before, so many investigations," Briones said.
FOI as a tool
Briones said an FOI act will not only increase transparency and accountability in the country but also help ordinary citizens join debates on corruption and other accountability issues.
She credited the media with bringing to light certain corrupt activities such as the fertilizer fund scam, and government agencies like the Commission on Audit in the case of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) funds misuse. Still, she said, citizens empowered by an FOI law could provide even more tips and clues for inquiry.
Citizens need to be able to invoke freedom of information in obtaining State documents so these can be subjected to expert analysis, according to Briones.
She added, "The FOI can be a very important tool in the fight against corruption. We are not only talking about corruption here in terms of stealing, in terms of getting money that deprive people of services but we're talking of corruption of political systems, of ideas, of what democracy is all about.”
A global network of citizens’ organizations advocating social and economic justice, SocialWatch said more than 85 countries now have FOI laws. The first access to information law was passed in Sweden in 1766.
President Aquino approved the FOI bill before his election in May 2010, but his Aquino administration did not include it on the list of priority bills for the next six years. Thus, the Philippines is still among 15 countries with pending FOI legislation.
Manila is host to this year’s Social Watch Global Assembly, dubbed "Claiming Democracy: Accountability for Social and Economic Justice," at the Sulo Riviera Hotel in Quezon City.
Roberto Bissio of Uruguay, Social Watch coordinator and Third World Institute (Instituto del Tercer Mundo, ITeM) executive director, said the basic mandate of Social Watch to promote government accountability has remained the same over time.
"In far too many places, the accountability process is made difficult or insufficient by different limitations to the basic rights: the right of citizens to voice their opinions, the right to assemble, and the right to access government information," said Bissio.
Social Watch also tackles transparency in public finance, and in the Philippines, Briones’s group has been active in the Alternative Budget Initiative, which seeks to mainstream people’s participation in the congressional budget process.
Tanya Dawkins of the United States, Co-Chairperson of Social Watch Coordinating Committee, lamented the lack of urgency and creativity with regard to resolving people’s issues of poverty and inequality.
Dawkins observed a “scandalous” set-up wherein governments “are quick to act and generate resources for banks drawn into the global financial crisis such that a bailout package is quickly put in place yet,” but takes its time “when dealing with people’s issues.”
Freedom of info not a luxury
Freedom of information is not a luxury of rich countries, according to Bissio, who noted that apart from Sweden, a rich, developed country, “it is also working in India and Mexico.”
He said Social Watch is convinced that “people in the Philippines and other countries will greatly benefit from it.”
At the same time, Bissio stressed that while the principles of accountability are universal, the means for attaining them vary from country to country. “The ‘naming and shaming’ mechanisms are essentially the same. A situation of injustice or rights violation is detected, information is gathered, a demand is articulated, solutions are proposed and the authorities are engaged to solve the problem or remove the obstacles. The Social Watch network amplifies these demands and through its reporting mechanisms provides a tool for groups to improve their capacities. One such mechanism is the development of rights-based indices.”
