Of Protests and Genuine Public Service: Freedom of Information for 2012
by Dine Racoma
January 4, 2012

 If one may liken the age of the Philippine Freedom of Information bill to an old commercial, one can say that she is no longer a baby because she is now a lady. Had she been a true human being, she would have been one of the numerous addicts of the WTF generation (Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook). At 15 years of age, she would have already started dating and may even be a prime candidate for unwanted pregnancy or drug addiction. She would be smack in the middle of the arguments of extending Grade 6 to Grade 7, and the arguments on sex education as part of the school curriculum.

Excellent house bills are not supposed to reach puberty while waiting for their enactment in Congress.

Long overdue is an understatement. The numerous debates on whether the law shall be made retroactive (applicable to old government contracts and records) or proactive made it a little famous for a while, with the former being pushed by traditional politicians in their efforts to shut off the inquiries on old questionable contracts. The issue on security was also raised up, but any Tom, Dick, and Harry can attest that with the right verbiage, it is completely possible to exclude the matters that involve national security and leave the rest of the government’s database open for public viewing and scrutiny.

Time Magazine’s person of the year for 2011 was the generic Protester, the one who wanted change that can make and rebuild an otherwise stagnated system. Such is the spirit which is globally lauded in the year past and the years to come. Such spirit is supposedly embodied in the almost archived and yet to be approved bills such as the long-standing Freedom of Information Bill in the Philippines. It is supposed to clear the shady cobwebs that make the people lose their trust in the government, for it is the way which grants the average Juan access to government records and information.

Unfortunately, unlike the Time-awarded Protester that it should resemble, the Freedom of Information bill is almost reduced to a whisper. It is merely placed under the rug, while there is a sea of floating issues and unnecessary sensationalism that capitalize on many other things except for the substantial ones that can really bring in some positive and long lasting change.

Read full article @ www.blogwatch.ph