Information and knowledge, honesty, and transparency are vital for righteous democratic good governance. The people must know what their governors are doing, why and how (including how much they are spending) for government programs, projects and activities.

Depriving the people of this information and knowledge makes righteous, democratic good governance impossible.

Yes, a monarchy or a dictatorship could possibly provide righteous good governance—but it would not be democratic. And after a rigorous look into the records, instances of bad governance, covered-up mistakes, if not actual malfeasances, would most likely surface.

A group of democratically elected and minded officials may have righteous intentions. But they would most likely still end up providing bad—ineffective, wasteful—governance, without the participation of the people, through the media and the civil society organizations, as monitors of sound governance, prudent handling of public funds, adherence to the law. But to be able to monitor effectively, the people must be given correct and complete information and knowledge of government activities and transactions. And that is the only way governors can be constantly aware that they will be accountable for their wrongdoings.

This is the reason the Philippine Constitution’s Bill of Rights (Article III, Section 7) recognizes the people’s right to information “on matters of public concern.”

[An aside. We question the phrase we have enclosed in quotation marks. Isn’t every deed of a government official a “matter of public concern?” If an act by an official (apart from visits to the washroom) during office hours in his government office is purely his or her private concern, shouldn’t his or her commission of that private act in government premises be “a matter of public concern”?]
Our Supreme Court has upheld the people’s right to information several times. However, up to now there is no enabling law setting the procedures for access and disclosure of information demanded by a citizen.
No law exists that provides penalties for officials who fail to release requested information without justifiable cause.

Today, it looks like we the people will have that law at last. For on Monday the Senate passed on third and final reading its counterpart bill to the one the House of Representatives passed in 2008. The bill gives the public access to official records and documents of the government.

Domestic and international media, legal and human-rights advocacy groups have been urging the Senate to pass the measure so a merged bill can soon be presented for signature and enactment by the President. The civil society organizations most active in getting the bill passed in the House and in the Senate are the Access to Information Network (ATIN), Action For Economic Reforms, and Transparency and Accountability Network.

The Senate’s Freedom of Information bill consolidates those filed separately by Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Manuel Roxas 2nd, Jose Estrada, Manuel Villar Jr., Loren Legarda, Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes 4th.

It defines “information” as “any knowledge, record, document, paper, report, letters, contract, minutes and transcripts of official meetings, maps, books, photographs, data, research material, film, sound and video recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data, computer stored data, or any other similar data or material recorded, stored or archived in whatever form or format, which are made, received or kept in or under the control and custody of a government agency pursuant to law, executive order, rules and regulations, ordinance or in connection with the performance or transaction of official business by any government agency.”


End of information stinginess

There are reasons to hope that the law would put an end to many government officials’ tendency to be stingy with information and data. These last two years this attitude was reinforced by the Palace’s use of “executive privilege.” This forbids not only Cabinet members but also all government officers—and even ordinary employees—and military and police officers from appearing in congressional hearings unless given leave to do so by President Arroyo or Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

Evasion of the duty to release data and facts could vanish with the enactment of this law because its Section 5 creates a presumption in favor of the people seeking information. It says: “Accordingly, government agencies shall have the burden of proof of showing by clear and convincing evidence that the information requested is exempted from disclosure by this Act.”

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Information, sponsored the bill on the floor. He said the proposed law would give teeth to the people’s constitutional right to information and to the full disclosure of all government transactions involving the public interest.

Exempted subjects

“The national interest is harmed as much by indiscriminate disclosure as by excessive secrecy,” said Sen. Ramon Revilla, who is a former chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Information.

The law therefore exempts some sensitive matters from public access. These are those affecting national defense and security, diplomacy, those that would undermine the government’s position in negotiations with other countries, and trade, industrial, financial or commercial secrets of a natural or juridical person other than the requesting party, obtained in confidence by, and filed with a government agency.

The measure also prohibits access to personal information about a human person other than the requesting party, and if its disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of his or her personal privacy, “unless it forms part of a public record, or the person is or was an official of a government agency and the information requested relates to his or her public function, or the person has consented to the disclosure of the requested information.”

Sweden in 1776 passed the world’s first freedom of information law. After 213 years, the Philippines will soon have one. It will surely boost our democracy.