PCIJ: President’s office still 'secretive' under Aquino

The Office of the President remains to be "secretive" under the leadership of President Benigno Aquino III, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said Monday. PCIJ executive director Malou Mangahas said Aquino’s office has imposed barriers to free access of government records such as additional documentary requirements, despite the President’s transparency platform during his 2010 election campaign. "The President has been an exemplar in filing complete and prompt reports… If the President could be this good, this should be the case in the entire bureaucracy," Mangahas said at a forum in Quezon City. A PCIJ report said Aquino’s office demanded various documents such as registration records, mayor’s permit and an executive summary describing where the files would be used before giving out copies of statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs). "Instead of taking the lead in pushing for transparency in government, the Office of the President seems to be following the footsteps of other state agencies that would rather keep documents close to their chests," the report said. The PCIJ report added that three of the government’s "integrity" institutions — the Commission on Audit, the Commission on Elections and the Civil Service Commission — are among the "most secretive" agencies in the country. The three agencies "restrict" access to public records such as SALNs and personal data sheets of government officials through various ways, ranging from imposing high prices for photocopying to sheer "ignorance" of the relevant laws on free access to information. Mangahas said that one of the ways to address the continuing lack of access to information in the Aquino administration is the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill currently pending in Congress. "The FOI bill is non-partisan and it protects the people most of all. Freedom of information is constitutionally mandated… Nananawagan kami sa Senado at sa House of Representatives na kung puwede ay balikan ang bill na ito," she said. Two separate versions of the FOI bill, Senate Bill 11 and House Bill 53, are still pending at the committee level in both chambers of Congress. Clear stand Various members of civil society groups meanwhile urged Aquino to state a clear stand on the FOI bill. Lawyer Nepomuceno Malaluan, co-director of the Institute for Freedom of Information, said the President should go beyond "undemocratic tendencies" and back the measure. "We ask President Aquino to categorically state whether or not he supports the passage of the FOI act, and if so, when," he said during the same forum. He added that his group has already sent a letter to Aquino’s office requesting a dialogue to convince the President to include the FOI bill in his priority measures. During the presidential campaign, Aquino vowed to prioritize the FOI bill, but did not include the measure in his priority legislative agenda during the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting last February. [See: Palace: FOI bill may yet be prioritized later this year] Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN) executive director Vincent Lazatin meanwhile said that Aquino should consider the FOI bill as a "central" tool for his anti-corruption agenda. "Transparency and access to information can be Aquino’s most potent weapon against corruption and poverty," he said. — RSJ/HS, GMA News