The Philippine Online Chronicles

We often refer to the Philippines as the bastion of democracy in Asia though certain instances prove otherwise. The death of the Freedom of Information Bill is a clear sign that this country isn't necessarily a democratic one despite the fact that we do elect our own leaders. Thing is, Philippine democracy is indeed democracy in the lowest sense of the word.

Not too long ago, I was planning to write something about corruption when I was doing my thesis in college. I was discouraged by my thesis adviser from pursuing a topic like that due to the evident fact that information about corruption is scarce and there is no way to prove it. It's as if people have accepted the fact that they will be forever unable to access certain information from the government. Some of our countrymen really have a knack for accepting things regardless of the fact that these things should be deemed unacceptable especially in a society that brands itself as democratic.

The mere fact that the said bill has not yet been ratified speaks about our culture as a people. We have a hard time facing the truth which is why our country is still behind other Southeast Asian countries. Awareness really is a big issue for if we continue to impede the source of the truth, we would never get to fix our issues and problems as a country. Fact is, Filipinos are afraid to face the consequences of their actions. An I-can-get-away-with-it mindset is common to many hence the corruption and misdeeds not only by the government officials but citizens as well. Like the scientific process, the first step in solving the problem is to identify it. How do we solve the problem of corruption in the country if we cannot access certain government documents that should have been available to the public? That is why those who promise to put an end to corruption should have more concrete plans like more transparency in the government.

As I can see it, failure to ratify the bill will create a culture of invisibility among our public officials. They can do whatever they please and not be held accountable for their own actions. After all, the people won’t have any idea as to the transactions that are done in the politicians respective government offices. It is unfortunate enough that we get to suffer from undesirable election results but to deprive us, citizens of this country; the right to access certain documents is really something.

Also, what lead to the death of the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) is that there were a lot of congressmen who were absent during the session. Isn’t it a bit peculiar that in corporate offices in the Philippines, if you fail to go to work for a day, you can get sanctioned whereas if our government officials do the same, they wouldn’t get reprimanded? There is one thing though that can be done to address this problem of our always absent congressmen/congresswoman and that is to not vote for them come the next elections. Let us be reminded of such irresponsible acts of our lawmakers and not vote for them next time lest we want a part two of this. This would be very hard though since many citizens of this country seems to have amnesia and they’d probably forget about the day the FOI bill was hindered by the politicians they think should be trusted.

The real culprit here however is wrong interpretation of democracy.  Democracy, for Filipinos, is being able to do anything with regard to politics even if it means ignoring the laws in the country. Remember EDSA dos? That is a wrong practice of democracy. Everything should follow the right process but the contrary keeps on happening in our state.  Problem is, there is a wrong notion of democracy in our nation and this is what kept us doing what we do regardless of the fact that it’s not proper anymore.

Bottom line is, let us not just blame the 14^th congress for killing the Freedom of Information Bill. I’m sure that we all did our part in the wrong practice of democracy which led to our politicians thinking they can get away with anything and everything. Our tolerance for even the smallest corrupt practices paved way for the prevailing culture of corruption in our beloved Philippines. If we do not change our ways, do not expect the bill to be passed. Our actions have influenced our politicians to deprive us of the information that should have belonged to the public from the very beginning.

It’s about time that we as a people start paying more attention to the true meaning of democracy because if we don’t, then let’s not expect that the Freedom of Information bill will be enacted to a law.

Ria "Iya" Justimbaste is the co-host of DWBL's Sentro ng Katotohanan which airs every tuesday and thursday at 8:30-9:30pm. She believes that the Filipino Culture is what keeps on impeding the country's progress and that Filipino cultural values are resistant to development. She blogs at http://iya-j.co.nr.

Photo by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado. Some Rights Reserved