Upholding right to information under Marcos administration

In a recent speech, no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr recognized the importance of the people’s right to information—that it can empower Filipinos to make informed decisions, ensure a more meaningful participation in democratic processes, and hold government officials accountable. 

The 1986 Constitution protects and guarantees the people’s right to information. This means the public should be able to exercise this right without fear, apprehension, and obstruction. 

This is easier said than done. 

Let’s take a look back at what happened in the previous administration. Shortly after former President Rodrigo Duterte assumed his post in Malacañang in 2016, he immediately signed an Executive Order on Freedom of Information, which mandated full public disclosure of all offices under the executive branch. 

It was hailed as a historic achievement, especially with the Freedom of Information Bill languishing in Congress for about three decades already. 

However, media reports showed that implementation proved inadequate and the Duterte administration ended its term with more secrets than publicized information. 
 
First, despite Duterte’s EO, the public still had very limited to no access at all to government contracts. Even documents that were previously easier to access such as government officials’ Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) became difficult to obtain. 

Second, as part of the Duterte administration’s FOI campaign, it launched a website where the public can file their FOI requests. However, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported in May 2022 that only less than half of these requests were granted. 

The Duterte administration was off to a good start but it failed to significantly deliver on its promise. 

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is likewise starting on a high note and appointing Cabinet members, who promised to uphold transparency and accountability in government.

Foremost is Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, who has been championing fiscal transparency, open governance and citizen participation through various DBM programs, and by pushing for the passage of the E-Governance and Budget Modernization bills. 

Last month, at the International Conference of Information Commissioners, Marcos called on “all branches of government to genuinely uphold and give effect to the people’s freedom of information in the course of our day-to-day operations, with good faith and with openness”. 

He also said that “as a matter of principle, fake news should have no place in modern society”. Marcos announced that his government will hold a Media and Information Literacy Campaign to support the FOI program. 

Marcos then issued Executive Order 31 institutionalizing the Philippine-Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP), which will oversee and implement the country’s commitments to the Open Government partnership (OGP).

The OGP is a multilateral organization composed of representatives from the government, civil society, and the private sector that upholds the values of access to information, public accountability, citizen participation and using technology and innovation to strengthen governance. 

The Marcos administration seems to be on the right track. However, there are still nagging concerns that need to be addressed. 

First, media reports show that there are still challenges in accessing relevant data related to government activities. For example, in March this year, the Marcos administration issued Memorandum Circular No. 15, updating its predecessor’s FOI Executive Order. However it added more restrictions to what the public could access. Among these, records and information regarding any investigation by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, “when such disclosure will deprive the respondent of the right to a fair and impartial investigation.”

This means, when a politician is charged with graft and corruption or plunder, the public will no longer have access to any information related to the issue at hand. 

Third, the chilling effect on media brought about by public persecutions and red-tagging in the past years continue to persist. Last month, the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2023 revealed that nine out of ten Filipinos have seen or heard criticisms against the Philippine news media and Filipino journalists. Of these criticisms, 46% came from politicians and 48% came from ordinary people. 

Veteran journalist and University of the Philippines Professor Yvonne Chua also noted in the Reuters study that the Philippine media landscape remained “largely grim” as attacks on journalists continued from the Duterte administration to the Marcos Jr. administration. 

Speaking before investors in January, Marcos said, “There will be accountability and transparency in everything that we do. That’s axiomatic.” 

To ensure this, there is still plenty that needs to be done. 

With the president’s high trust ratings and political capital, he can be more successful in institutionalizing measures that will ensure transparency and accountability in government. A mark of good governance that will reflect positively on the country especially for potential investments we need to sustain economic growth.  

Among these are the Freedom of Information Bill, which ensures public access to government data and transactions, the E-Governance Bill, which aims to streamline and digitalize key services of government offices and local government units, and ensure easier access to information by our citizenry, and the Budget Modernization Bill, which will allow the public to more effectively monitor where taxpayers’ money go. 

It is also recommend that the president continue to uphold the freedom of the press, which goes hand-in-hand with the freedom of information.

Marcos said the right words. Now, we await the continued implementation of the right actions. 

Author’s note: The right to information is one of the main advocacies of the Democracy Watch Philippines, which the author co-leads. On July 28 2023, the Democracy Watch Philippines and the Stratbase ADR Institute will hold a post-State of the Nation Address online forum entitled, “Rhetoric vs. Action: Reviewing the Alignment of Promises and Implementation under the Marcos Jr. Presidency”. During the forum, political experts will share their assessment of the current government’s programs and plans, and also release a new the results of a new Pulse Asia survey on corruption perception. 

Joyce llas is a co-convenor at the Democracy Watch Philippines, and a communications and advocacy lead at the Stratbase ADR Institute.