No FOI law, no real matuwid na daan

IT is more than halfway through the six-year term of President Benigno Aquino III, an administration that is supposedly anchored on the matuwid na daan, a battlecry for good governance.

An integral component of that daan is supposedly the Freedom of Information (FOI) law because it will pave the way for transparency in government operations, an indispensable element in battling corruption.

But where does the FOI bill, initially put forward more than 20 years ago, stand now? Still there floating around in the halls of the Senate and the Lower House. Long overdue as it is, the senators have done a little better with the FOI already passed on third and final reading in early March this year. But the congressmen seem to keep finding technicalities and other excuses to further delay the passage of a supposedly urgent bill.

The FOI bill will not simply benefit the media, society’s watchdog, but the public as a whole because it is the only effective means for the private sector to put the pubic sector on notice, and promote utmost transparency and accountability in the management of public funds.

We have had the scandalous fertilizer and even more appalling pork scams, then there’s the unexplained wealth of so many public officials, and the many other forms of corruption that goes on everyday in government.

We need the FOI law. We needed it yesterday.

*          *          *          *          *          *

It depends

IT was asked again during US President Obama’s recent Manila visit:  Will America defend the Philippines if it gets attacked militarily by China? While that is a most stupid question that shouldn’t have been asked in the first place, let’s answer it anyways and the politically-correct answer is:  It depends.

We must remember that a military war as opposed to verbal war is a complicated matter.  The US, while it is the world’s undisputed chief policeman, cannot just enter the picture and take sides outright, especially if the warring countries are both its allies.  While verbal tussles are practically harmless, not artillery combat as it claims lives, including innocent ones. America is friendly to both China and the Philippines.  Even as it appears obvious in the most recent past that China loves bullying the Philippines, the US cannot just reprimand China.  America cannot afford to antagonize China as its debts to China are the world’s largest – the two being the biggest trading partners globally.  And even if by tradition the US supports and protects Philippine interests, America will not outright go as far as involving itself into armed conflict with any country that the Philippines has gotten enmeshed with, including China.

America, like the rest of the world, protects only its own interest.  If it knows it will gain something from an action it plans to do or has already taken, it will pursue it up to the ends of the earth.

Back to Homepage

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments