Aquino's broken promise
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Countries with freedom of information (FOI) laws "have lower incidence of corruption" and a better quality of life than nations that just recently enforced such a measure or have none at all, according to a study by former Inquirer reporter Edson Tandoc
If reminders of his previous words still fail to prod Philippine President Benigno Aquino III to act more quickly on the long-pending FOI bill, perhaps that piece of empirical evidence will do, given how he is said to be such a stickler for facts and figures. Like his mother, who famously said she hated unsolicited advice, Aquino appears to become even more stubborn the more he is badgered about a particular matter.
As in the reproductive health bill, he seems to like taking his time. That has been his stance vis-a-vis the Freedom of Information bill, which he championed on the campaign trail. The public took him at his word then, that his prospective administration would be distinguished from its predecessor by the honesty and transparency he would bring. The linchpin of that anti-corruption governance, he promised, was a law that would afford ordinary citizens the power to check for themselves the records of government transactions made in their name and paid for with their hard-earned taxes. The FOI bill was envisioned to bring a long-delayed measure of accountability to government conduct, making concrete Aquino’s vow of a “straight path” for his administration.
That hasn’t happened. In the last three years, despite a sustained public clamour for Congress to pass the bill, Aquino has dithered, refusing to certify it as urgent. He has walked back on his support for the bill, expressing reservations about possible adverse effect it might have on the efficiency and orderliness of daily government work – as if the current system could stand as a model for such. He would like more time to study the pros and cons of empowering ordinary citizens to seek out public records, he has said; and with that, already midway into his term, the clock running out on the bill has become a more distinct possibility.
Tandoc compared the 2010 standings of 168 countries in the UN Human Development Index, Transparency International’s corruption perception index, and the Centre for Law and Democracy, an organisation that monitors respect for human rights and access to information worldwide.
“The study shows that countries with mature FOI laws have much lower corruption levels and higher standards of living than countries with younger laws, or no laws at all,” Tandoc said. But such legislation should not be seen as a quick fix: “The right to information should be used as a check on the government instead of a last resort when corruption has already worsened.”
While the Philippines improved its ranking by 24 points in the 2012 corruption perception survey by Transparency International, its 105th place among 174 countries still tied it with Mali and Algeria and put it worlds away from Southeast Asian neighbours Singapore (fifth), Brunei (46th), Malaysia (54th) and Thailand (88th).
Tandoc’s study supports what the public has long known – that a law that considers the citizenry as active partners in governance would only be good for the Philippines. Failing to enact one would be a signal dereliction of duty by Aquino.
