By Gil Cabacungan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
4:02 am | Monday, November 7th, 2011
A number of lawmakers belonging to different political parties are
now hedging on passing the freedom of information bill, echoing
President Benigno Aquino III’s line that it could be “prone to abuse.”
House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales of the Liberal Party, Nueva
Ecija Representative Rodolfo Antonino of the National Unity Party and
Valenzuela City Representative Rex Gatchalian of the National People’s
Coalition said that Congress had to make sure there were “enough
safeguards” to ensure that a freedom of information bill “would not be
used for mischief against other persons.”
The freedom of information bill would allow the public to obtain
records of government transactions, meetings and other business, a
right enshrined in the Constitution. But for almost a quarter of a
century, lawmakers have effectively withheld the people’s enjoyment of
this right by failing to pass its implementing guidelines.
President Aquino earlier said he had not yet made up his mind
whether or not to support any of the freedom of information bills
pending in Congress.
“Freedom of Information Act sounds so good and noble but at the same
time, first of all, you’ll notice that here in this country there’s a
tendency to get information and not really utilize it for the proper
purposes,” the President had said during an open forum at a gathering of
Southeast Asian business leaders in September.
One of his LP allies, Quezon Representative Lorenzo R. Tañada III, a
principal author of the bill, was quoted in media reports as expressing
dismay over the President’s lack of support for one of his promises
made during the election campaign.
But Gonzales backed the President, saying Mr. Aquino was justified in
his apprehensions over the freedom of information provisions because
Congress had not yet determined “the reasonable limitations” to be
adopted to prevent the misuse of state information.
“What makes the freedom of information bill controversial and
difficult to shepherd is the danger that it can be abused. While freedom
of information is guaranteed by the Constitution, by no stretch of the
imagination should it be considered absolute. All civil liberties and
rights enshrined in the Constitution have limitations,” said Gonzales
in a text message.
Antonino said Congress should strike a balance between the right to
information versus the rights of those who might be affected by that
information.
Gatchalian said the NPC had not yet come up with a stand on the
freedom of information bill because its members were still reviewing the
pros and cons of the Philippines’ version of the US sunshine laws.
Ako Bicol party-list Representative Rodel Batocabe, a co-author of
the bill, said any measure would always be prone to abuse unless proper
safeguards were instituted and loopholes plugged. He said this was the
reason Congress had to exercise its oversight functions to prevent any
law’s misuse.
He said the fears of abuse were at present “speculative.”
http://bit.ly/u686Li
No comments:
Post a Comment