Aquino junks FoI, says it will be misused

With the congressional leaders agreeing to list, as one of Congress’ priority bills, the Freedom of Information bill, there was an instant reaction from President Aquino, who came up with yet another excuse not to have this bill prioritized and conjuring up images of dangerous situations as a result of an FoI Act.

Aquino stressed that while he wants Filipinos to be completely informed, he also wants to make sure that the idea of a little knowledge leading to a “lot of danger” won’t happen here.

But he admitted that he has gone cold on the FoI bill because of fears that providing the public with access to government documents might not be put to good use and instigate panic or even cause harm to certain people.

He failed to explain why such access to public documents can instigate panic and cause harm to certain people, obviously referring to his officials, since these are public and government documents and that, if everything is above-board, an FoI should not create any panic in government officials, including himself, nor cause harm to them.

Answering questions during an open forum with delegates of the Asean 100 Leadership forum at Makati Shangri-la Hotel in Makati City Thursday, Aquino admitted that, from being a rabid advocate of the FoI bill, he is now taking a second look at the proposal in order to determine if it truly redounds to the benefit of the public.

“You know, having a freedom of information act sounds so good and noble, but at the same time, I think you will notice that here in this country, there is a tendency of getting information and not really utilizing it for the proper purposes. There are so many people who will always look at the bottle half empty, or sometimes the half empty battle even becomes the quarter full bottle,” Aquino said.

“And if I may just add one last point, all you have to do is read a newspaper every day. And I think you will agree that there is, how should I say it, nobody can state a fact exactly the same in all of these newspapers. An opinion commenting on the fact is okay. But an opinion masquerading as a fact does not do anyone any good.” he further claimed.

Aquino cited as an example the case where there is call to record Cabinet meetings which should be made available to the public immediately and this he said could cause restrictions on how Cabinet members share information among themselves knowing that everything they say would become public knowledge.

Another instance, he said, is that during cases of medical situations which could result in widespread panic if the information automatically becomes public knowledge as espoused by the present FoI bill.

He gave the example of this, saying: “ When we had initial reports of people who might be afflicted with SARS(Severe acute respiratory syndrome) on the way back home, again, the advocates of freedom information were saying we should tell the people right away whether or not we know the person is indeed ill. And I don’t think you would agree that causing panic among our populace would redound to their benefit.”

It is usually government officials, however, who publicly announce the rise in dengue fever and other diseases reaching epidemic proportions, since certain safety health measures are publicly announced. In such instances, there is no need for an FoI law to access such information, since such is freely given.

What could be discovered, through an FoI law, is if such announcements of a probable epidemic would prove false and misused by government for other purposes, in which case, the government would be embarrassed at being caught at a lie.

But Aquino continued: “So, what I am trying to say, in this broadest sense, Cabinet discussions want—there are some advocates who are saying this should be recorded, and right after discussing, this should be made available to everybody and anybody. When people share information perhaps that is deemed reliable but not sufficient to bring to the court. Having a freedom of information act that dictates something like that will inhibit the discussions that will probably not allow us to share the information among ourselves that leads to a faulty decision, and I don’t think you would want that.

Aquino clarified however that he has not completely abandoned the FoI bill but that he wants to really make sure that all loopholes are properly addressed and all stakeholders have been properly consulted.

“So, we are at the stage where we are just asking that let us have our people completely informed, as mandated by the Constitution. But at the same time, make sure that idea of little knowledge becomes a lot of danger does not happen in our country. That is the debate as to where to draw the line. And we have a working group talking to all the stakeholders trying to come up with that law that everybody can live with and comply with,” he said.

His spokesmen have said that the FoI bill is not needed during the term of Aquino since his is a “very transparent” government and that the FoI act may be needed after his term. –Virgilio J. Bugaoisan, Daily Tribune