Roots

By June 6, 2010Archives, Opinion

Freedom’s enemies

By Marifi Jara

QUELIMANE, Mozambique–A century, a decade and two years (officially) from Spanish colonization. Half a century, a decade and four years (technically) from American occupation. Two decades and four years from the Marcos dictatorship.

It would be fair to say that those are long periods now since Filipinos have repeatedly stood up, fought for, and won independence for the Philippines. We do have reason to be proud of ourselves. To quote Greek historian Thucydides: “The secret to happiness is freedom; the secret to freedom, courage.”

Although, we must admit, it has been a rough democracy, one wrought with many an adversary. One of our freedom’s biggest enemies today is corruption. And one big step towards addressing corruption would have been the passage of the Freedom of Information Act. Shame on those congressional representatives whose absence became a convenient excuse for its non-ratification last Friday! Count yourselves now, together with House Speaker Prospero Nograles, among freedom’s enemies.

With this law in place, we would have been able to stand on stronger ground when we shout out for and demand transparency and accountability among our public servants. This is valuable not just for the media. The benefits of the FOI Act extends to organized groups and the general public in terms of access to information. Are we not in the age where information is power? The influential Internet provides various venues — blogging, social networking websites, citizen journalism pages — for speaking out. The FOI Act will further empower civil society and the people to participate in the role of being the government’s watchdog. With access to information relating to government actions, people will be able to strengthen their voice with the muscle of documentary evidence.

With rules and corresponding penalties against those who will refuse us access to public documents (contracts, policies, etc.), scrutiny of government actions should prove less painless. With a responsible media supported by a vigilant public on constant watch, armed with the constitutional “right to know”, people in government would be less fearless about carrying out shady deals. Then with a more transparent government, we can expect more decent investors to come in to help buoy the economy. But all that has once again been put on hold.

Pending-President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino II’s “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” campaign catchphrase was indeed catchy, but it does not really catch the whole picture. We know that our country’s problems are thornier than that. But yes, it is the best place to start because it does lead to confronting another gigantic freedom’s enemy: poverty.

It would take more than ending corruption which realistically would not be possible to completely do so in the six years that Noynoy will be president; it is a deeply-rooted affliction that will take longer to undo from our political culture) to stamp out poverty.

What we also need, which our government leaders must work towards, is to revolutionize our economy such that supposed “growth” as reflected in complex data and statistics that administrations love to quote, actually translate to a more balanced distribution of wealth with the majority of the population enjoying an improved quality of life.

Having an improved quality of life does not mean everyone in the Philippines is going to be filthy rich (a better life is not always about having loads of money). What it means is living in a country where there is food security because our agricultural sector is taken cared of, public education is maintained with competitive standards, local job opportunities are available for those who are not mangiras, a no-stress transport infrastructure and system, and a sound shelter program. Wouldn’t those make us happy?

The passage of the FOI Act would have raised our celebration of the 112th anniversary of Philippine Independence Day this year on June 12 to a higher meaning.

Nonetheless, as we celebrate, we carry a sense of optimism with the entry of a new administration that is replacing one that has been rather shadowy. Let us dream and aim to be a country that is truly free — and happy.

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