Punchline
FOI Bill – PNoy vs. People
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
THE members of the Pangasinan Press Club who attended the seminar on the Freedom on Information Bill last month that the club hosted were lucky to get a comprehensive briefing, courtesy of former Ateneo law professor Alan Paguia.
The briefing was timely because its discussion is central to the forthcoming SONA of PNoy. It’s been a year since our people were promised its passage by then candidate Noynoy Aquino and now as PNoy, and the fate of that all-too important bill remains hanging in the balance. Why important?
It will be the law that will give flesh to the word transparency. It will make our elected, appointed and civil servants realize the full meaning of accountability. It will make governance a true partnership between the governed and the governors.
If we only had the FOI in place since 2004, the possibility of hatching the ‘Hello Garci’ plot would have been remote…the tens of millions paid to appointees in government corporations would have been nipped in the bud early on…the corruption scandals that tainted the North Rail deal, ZTE deal, Macapagal Highway, PIATCO, etc. could have been preempted. In the province, all the pork barrel projects of our congressmen, governor and mayors could have been easily monitored and effectively reduced kickbacks. In Dagupan, the FOI could have helped unearth the rotten deal on the sanitary landfill, prevented the unlawful release of the calamity fund in the city, the overpricing of grocery items for feeding program, etc.
In sum, without the FOI, it’s tuloy ang ligaya to those who have access to public funds and the authority to dispense them.
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The House of Representatives first approved HB No. 3732 in 2008 and eventually caused its demise on February 1, 2010 by deliberately failing to have a quorum that day.
Today, we have a new set of representatives in Congress. And as our people recall, all of them, namely, Jesus celeste (1st), Leopoldo Bataoil Jr. (2nd), Rachel Arenas (3rd). Gina de Venecia (4th), Kimi Cojuangco (5th) and Marlene Agabat (6th) pledged to support and promote good governance yet we have not heard them openly endorse the FOI! Why?
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DOUBLE-SPEAK. Alas, there is that seemingly immovable major obstacle that prevents the FOI from taking off.
For all the talk about the determination of PNoy to fight graft and corruption, double-speak from him and his alter egos. Is already obvious.
Before the 2010 elections, then Senator Aquino joined his colleagues in the senate in voting unanimously for the passage of the FOI. Then moving into the campaign, he and the men and women who now serve at his pleasure in government, the passage of the FOI was made the rallying point for his anti-corruption advocacy campaign to demonstrate that he has the political will to go after grafters and corrupt men and women in public service.
It’s now July 2011, exactly a year after he took over the reigns of government and to this day he has not made the FOI a priority bill! And here’s how he and his cabinet have justified the undue delay even after the present senate version bill already expressly stated the Exceptions to insulate legitimate business of governance from petty distractions:
“1. …Frequency of access to information currently being used. Government agencies are entrusted with specific functions in furtherance of certain public objectives. Normally included in these functions is policy formulation or program management where information management is vital. The smooth exercise of these functions, where regularity of actions of public officers is presumed, may be put at risk if the government agencies are subjected to requests for information at every step of the way. Second-guessing the decisions of our public officers will undermine their effectiveness. Therefore, it is important to determine if information that is currently being used by government agencies for decision-making or project management will be made available already or if a reasonable lapse of time will be allowed before this is done, similar to declassification of documents by the military. The intention is not to hide information nor to limit frequency of access but only to ensure that government operations are not hampered.
2. …Open access to minutes or transcripts of official meetings may diminish candid and open discussions that characterize such meetings. Off-the-cuff remarks, characterizations, or outbursts that are recorded when important topics are tackled during these meetings may subject public officers or institutions to embarrassment or ridicule, even if this is not the intent of the person requesting for information…This is a salient point that needs to be addressed by the proposed bills.”
Duh?? In Pilipino, we know this as “Kung gusto may paraan, kung ayaw puro dahilan!” We have a new set of hypocrites in the Palace.
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PANG KKK ITO! Dahilan is when PNoy chose to focus on what could be the negative impact of completely ridiculously extreme cases on administration instead of viewing its positive and serious impact on governance.
Clearly, PNoy has allowed himself to be coopted to protect his KKK appointees from possible incrimination in some plots already being hatched. This became more evident when he flatly rejected the suggestion of Senator Alan Cayetano that he requires all his appointees to sign a waiver that will authorize investigating bodies to have access to their bank accounts should it be deemed necessary in the course of an investigation of a reported scam or scandal implicating them. This same proposition was aired first by Senator Ping Lacson when he ran for the presidency in 2004 and again for another term n the senate in 2007. In both instances, GMA promptly shot them down. And the Palace insists PNoy is different from GMA.
The quick retort of Malacanang to Sen. Cayetano’s suggestion was an easy giveaway. The Palace spokespersons sang the chorus: Legislate first the law that will require the signing of waiver or citing exemptions of coverage! Duh??
Yes, PNoy is no different…he has his own sacred cows to protect – the Kaklase, Kaibigan, Kabarilan and may I add a fourth K – Kalaro!
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DOUBLE-HEADED MONSTER. The Loterya ng Bayan, without a doubt, will be another convenient cover for jueteng.
If and when PCSO chair Margie Juico or her representative comes to respond to questions about it, we can expect the same assurances and liberal platitudes that were dished out for Small Town Lottery, that later proved to be jueteng’s creation after all.
To ask for P100 million as franchise fee already tells you what it is – for P100 M you get protection for operating not only loterya but jueteng as well since loterya alone cannot promise a return on the investment, not with the PCSO multi-million lottery competing with it.
Stop it before this double-headed monster becomes king.
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ANOTHER LIM DEAL? The decision of the Ombudsman to sustain City Engr. Virginia Rosario against charges of abuse of authority by the owners of MetroState Mall again speaks volume of how deals were made (and continue to be made) under a Lim administration.
I believe we are seeing a ghost of the MetroState deal in the area by the Daungan sa Dawel in the works. It will be recalled that informal settlers were hastily removed there ostensibly to provide them with better housing. But lo and behold, a riprap below the western approach to the Dawel bridge, opposite Daungan, has been constructed to denote preparation for a major commercial development.
Let’s start asking the mayor the questions. 1) What’s in store? 2) Who’s spending for it? 3) Is it a public or private venture? 3) Who’s the contractor?
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