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Other
than its reported penchant for corruption, there is
another trait that distinguishes the Arroyo
administration from previous administrations—its flair
for secrecy, which is denying the people of their right
to information and to be appraised of issues that
directly affect them.
On
Monday, lawyers and members of different groups
advocating for transparency and accountability in the
government service and the “right to know,” voiced their
concerns over the administration’s seemingly
institutionalized policy of concealment, which they said
must be stopped.
“The
Arroyo administration has turned into a regime of
secrecy, which makes the struggle more urgent and
serious,” lawyer Nepomuceno Malaluan said at the public
forum on executive privilege and the people’s right to
know held in a hotel in Pasig City.
Malaluan
was joined by other lawyers including former UP law dean
Pacifico Agabin and Carlos Medina of the Lawyers’ League
for Liberty (Libertas). Lawyer Vincent Lazatin of the
Transparency and Accountability Network moderated the
discussion.
Although
noting that the Philippines is only among the few
countries in the world whose citizens’ freedom to
information is recognized by the Constitution, it
appears that the administration does not readily
recognized this right and even moves to bamboozle it,
Malaluan said.
He said
Section 7 of the Bill of Rights mandated the state to
observe this freedom since it is a “public right and
self executing” and does not require legislation and
“not discretionary” for public officials, when they are
sought for documents pertaining to government contracts
and agreements.
Malaluan
cited two instances where the government has denied the
people of this right—when the public asked for the
disclosure of the report of the Melo Commission on
extrajudicial killings and when the group of Lazatin
asked from the Supreme Court (SC) a copy of the report
on the judicial reforms that were undertaken by former
Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.
Lazatin
added that just recently, the government also denied
requests of journalists to get copies of the map of the
Spratly Islands, because they were told by officials
that the issue is “too hot.”
Malaluan
said the recent pronouncement of the SC on the question
of executive privilege on the questionable national
broadband network contract with China’s ZTE has even
made it harder for the people to pursue and avail
themselves of the right to information.
“As a
result, what were readily available before to the public
have now become restrictive,” he said.
Agabin,
who talked on the powers of the houses of Congress over
legislative inquiries, said that the power of the
legislature to conduct investigation in aid of
legislation was its inherent right, and this includes
looking into contracts and agreements entered into by
the government.
He said
the US Supreme Court, in defining what must be among the
subjects of a congressional investigation, identified
the “administration of existing laws as well as possible
statutes,” as one of the scopes.
Under
this, Agabin said the Congress can look into corruption
and inefficiency.
Agabin,
however, said that investigations should be aimed at
coming up with laws or modifying existing ones. |
