EDITORIAL — The right to information

Long before the Supreme Court handed down its ruling that effectively turned executive privilege into a refuge for scoundrels, thereby causing jubilation at Malacañang, the administration was already moving to curb the disclosure of government records to the public.

A report prepared by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism noted that since Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita issued a memorandum order on Sept. 28 last year, restricting the release to the Senate and the media of documents pertaining to the government’s national broadband network deal with ZTE Corp. of China, access to public records in general has become difficult. Secrecy is understandable in cases involving national security. But when secrecy is invoked amid accusations of corruption, it is nothing but a tool for a criminal cover-up.

Going against the global trend toward transparency, government personnel would rather risk violating the constitutionally guaranteed right to information on matters of public concern than risk the ire of their secretive bosses at Malacañang. Government personnel also prefer to risk violating Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Government Officials and Employees, which provides, among other things, that “all public documents must be made accessible to, and readily made for inspection by, the public within reasonable working hours.”

The National Economic and Development Authority, which is at the center of the broadband corruption scandal, has stopped processing requests altogether for information on the ZTE project, the PCIJ reported. Transparency at the NEDA used to be “100 percent,” according to the PCIJ, which conducted a six-month study on foreign-funded development projects. Other agencies reportedly turned down PCIJ requests for documents, or else released incomplete records.

The administration has received a big boost from the Supreme Court, which has deemed the country’s diplomatic relations with China more important than the public’s right to know amid allegations of large-scale corruption. In the Information Age, many organizations including the International Monetary Fund are learning that it is better to err on the side of transparency and truth. Not so in this country, where people are seeing the opposite trend under an administration with a siege mentality.