In the Philippines, free access to information is guaranteed by the Constitution – specifically in Article II declaring the policy of State to adopt and implement “a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest”.
The right to information is also a necessary condition for the effective exercise of other rights by the people. However, this is not yet codified by law. The lack of a clear and defining law has helped to ensure denial of access to official information and encouraged graft and corruption which remains widespread across the country.
In the Philippines, free access to information is guaranteed by the Constitution – specifically in Article II declaring the policy of State to adopt and implement “a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest”.
The right to information is also a necessary condition for the effective exercise of other rights by the people. However, this is not yet codified by law. The lack of a clear and defining law has helped to ensure denial of access to official information and encouraged graft and corruption which remains widespread across the country.
In the last 10 years, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, for example, has documented 14 major instances when it was given “flimsy excuses” by 12 national agencies while securing public information relating to its investigative reporting. Ordinary folks faced harder task in securing their rights to information.
The members of the Right to Know, Right Now!, a nationwide network of organizations, coalitions and individuals from various sectors urgently calls for the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. Passed as House Bill 3732 and Senate Bill 3308, the Bicameral Report of FOI Act was ratified by the Senate. The Lower House, however, was unable to ratify the bill during the last two remaining session days before the House adjourned for elections.
In the run-up to the national elections when legislators change priorities to secure their positions and offices in government, the FOI Act is dangerously facing shelving for the 15th congress.
“If this happens, the whole campaign will have to start from zero campaigning its legislation in the next Congress. But we hope that by strengthening our campaign in Davao where the Speaker of the House lives and by gathering community support we may just be able to pass the FOI bill,” explained Miss Reylynne dela Paz of Transparency and Accountability Network.
Meanwhile, the Right to Know, Right Now! nationwide campaign is shifting its gear toward thorough public awareness on FOI through media advocacy and community education. The FOI forum on social accountability and transparency is just one of the mechanisms to drum up support for the FOI bill.
“We believe that information, when democratized and made widely available, allows citizens to actively participate on issues that have serious repercussions for governance,” dela Paz added.
The answer to information-deprived Filipinos comes in the form of Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. The Act will provide much needed substantive and procedural details that will make fully operational the Constitutional rights of the people to information and the state policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest.
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