NO NEED FOR SENATE INVESTIGATIONS WITH FOI -ANGARA

Amid the series of corruption investigations in the Senate, Senator Sonny Angara said there wouldn't be a need for a legislative inquiry anymore if the Congress had passed the Freedom of Information (FOI) law.

"If we had an FOI statute, there probably wouldn't be a need for a Senate investigation. If there was a need, the facts would have already been established. Unlike now where people are hanging on to every senator's word and question during investigations to uncover the truth," Angara said in his speech at an FOI forum in Makati, early this week.

"'Pag may FOI na, hindi na kailangan ng Senate investigation para makakalap lang ng impormasyon. 'Pag andyan na ang ebidensya, kahit ang isang ordinaryong Pilipino pwede na mag-file ng kaso sa isang opisyal sa gobyerno," he said.

Under the Senate-approved People's Freedom of Information bill or Senate Bill No. 1733, government agencies should make available to the public for scrutiny, copying and reproduction all information pertaining to official acts, transactions or decisions, as well as government research data used as a basis for policy development.

Angara, one of the authors of SB 1733, noted that the Senate is "lucky" under President Aquino since the administration has been "very open" in facing the issues.

"When the DAP decision came out, President Noynoy sent a whole battalion of Cabinet officials to the Senate to answer questions. Not all administrations are like-minded in that sense. The past administration, when asked to talk about certain deals or contracts that the government had entered into, they invoked the executive privilege as a ground to not send officials of the Cabinet to legislative investigations," the senator said.

While the Senate version was passed in March this year, the counterpart measure in the House was just approved in the committee level last week.

Angara, who has been pushing for the enactment of FOI since his days in Congress, said that the biggest challenge for FOI champions is convincing the grassroots that it is a much-needed measure.

"How do we convince a person living in a far-flung area, which has no Internet access, that a piece of information would make his life better. That's the fundamental challenge we have.

"Hindi kasi nakikita at naiintindihan ng pangkaraniwang mamamayan yung importansya, kung paano makatutulong sa kaniya yung impormasyon. Kung maraming perang kinukurakot sa gobyerno, edi mas kaunti ang nagagastos para sa publiko. Yung impormasyon pwede iyon gamiting sandata panlaban sa mga tiwali sa gobyerno," he said.

Nevertheless, Angara expressed optimism that Congress will pass the FOI law.

"I'm confident that we will pass it. The question is when will we pass it. Is it gonna be sooner or later? If we do it later, all of us will be poorer. Our people will be poorer, our government will be poorer," the lawmaker stressed.

"The Philippines is one of the first democracies and yet, ironically, we're not one of the first to have an FOI. We need an FOI bill to deepen our democracy.

"The FOI law is what I like to call a quiet revolution to policy. Whether we do it sooner or later, it will make a sea change in our political life," he said.