Transparency and Accountability Network

Social Accountability

Right to Know. Right Now!

Information maybe neutral, but if it is not being harvested by the public, it can become a tool to further circumvent accountability. One of the key pillars of social accountability is access to information. In the Philippines, this right is guaranteed by the constitution (Bill of Rights, Article III, Section 7). But since the ratification of the constitution 20 years ago, the exercise of this right remains at the discretion of public officials.

Key sectors such as the media, and citizen groups and the citizens in general continually feel that government offices do not see disclosure of information as an obligation that they have to fulfill. Instead, those delivering public services imply that those asking for public documents have "utang na loob" (debt of gratitude) to them. This demand for key information is crucial to exacting accountability.

For almost a decade now, civil society organizations have been struggling to pass a freedom of information act that will turn the paradigm towards a government that progressively discloses public information from the current situation of a government with a penchant for invoking executive privilege and confidentiality.

The Access to Information Network (ATIN) has been lobbying for the passage of a Freedom of Information Act that will serve as the implementing legislation for this constitutional right for three Congresses now.

Key features of the bill include an expansive coverage, clear and standard procedures for accessing information, a legal presumption in favor of access to information, and criminal liabilities. The bill hopes to create a situation wherein public agencies can no longer arbitrarily deny requests for information and to empower the citizens to demand information and insist that in cases of denial the public agency should be able to justify to them why. It also hopes to ease, if not totally eliminate, the burden from citizens of explaining why the information is being requested and for what purpose it will be used.

Fortunately, in the 14th Congress the bill was passed in the lower house and the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media will soon release its Committee Report. This is the closest that ATIN reached in their advocacy.

The group for the past Congresses has tried to pass the bill under the radar but for the last push, it has since expanded its network through the "Right to Know. Right Now!" campaign. It intends to get more public support to urge this Congress and the President to enact this bill into law.

Primer on the Commission on Appointments

30 June 2011 Ebenezer Ramos Bonbon

What is the Commission on Appointments?

The Commission on Appointments (CA) is a constitutional body of the Congress of the Philippines as provided by the Constitution. It is an independent body separate and distinct from the Legislature, although its membership is confined to members of Congress.

It confirms certain appointments made by the President of the Philippines. Article VII, Section 16 of the 1987 Constitution reads:

"The President shall nominate and, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, appoint the heads of the executive departments, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, or officers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain, and other officers whose appointments are vested in him in this Constitution. He shall also appoint all other officers of the Government whose appointments are not otherwise provided for by law, and those whom he may be authorized by law to appoint. The Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of other officers lower in rank in the President alone, in the courts, or in the heads of departments, agencies, commissions, or boards.

How does the CA work?

The CA does not curtail the Presidents appointing authority but serves as a check against its abuse. It assures that the President has exercised the power to appoint wisely, by appointing only those who are fit and qualified. To this end, the Rules of the Commission's Statement of Policy provides that,'The Commission on Appointments hereby declares as its policy that the powers vested in it by the Constitution shall be discharged with only one impelling motive, which is the efficient and harmonious functioning of the government.

'Cognizant of the fact that the power of appointment is vested in the President of the Philippines, and that the President, in the exercise of that power, had carefully considered the fitness and qualifications of nominees or appointees, the Commission on Appointments shall accord the nomination or appointment weight and respect, to the end that all doubts should be resolved in favor of approval or confirmation.

'On the other hand, the Commission, being part of our republican system of checks and balances, shall act as a restraint against abuse of the appointing authority, to the end that the power of disapproval should be exercised to protect and enhance the public interest.'

*Pimentel Jr. vs. Ermita (G.R. No 164978; 472 SCRA 587)

The Commission's function forms part of the very delicate mechanism of checks and balances established by the Constitution to ensure that the coordinate departments of the government will function in a way that will be most conducive to the public welfare.