|
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Cabaero: Gag rule gig
By Nini B. Cabaero
Beyond 30
The Constitution recognizes information as vital to a democracy and to the fulfillment of national aspirations. Between what is prescribed in the Constitution and reality, however, is a world of a difference.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s order requiring government officials to seek her permission before appearing in congressional hearings is another reality that impacts on the public’s right to information.
The 1987 Philippine Constitution guarantees the right to information of citizens, inside or outside of government. The Constitution qualifies the general rule by imposing limitations, like national security, to the right to information. These limitations have been used by governments to justify gag orders, non-disclosure, inaction over requests for information or delays in releasing data to the public, especially when the information demanded is potentially controversial.
Such is the case in the ongoing Senate or House investigations where the issues being taken up are potentially controversial and embarrassing to the administration.
President Arroyo justifies her recent gag rule as an act against Congress. Her opponents in Congress, she said, had been waging a war against her, using insults to her appointed officials as their weapon. “I have to put my foot down for the sake of the people, for the sake of enabling the government to work rather than be disabled by the politics of insult,” she said last Friday, her first comment after she released Executive Order 464.
She said we all want the truth, but “the truth must be found in a forum where the rule of law is observed, where the accused has the right to present a defense in accordance with time-tested regulations.”
While she is targeting Congress with her order, Arroyo is actually addressing the people’s right to information as contained in the Constitution. Such congressional investigations are (ideally) conducted for the benefit of the people, in aid of legislation for the people. The act of prior restraint on government officials by Arroyo’s order impacts on that right of the people. This gig or spectacle over the gag rule curtails not only the right of Congress but also the right of the people to information.
Information does not lose its value in congressional investigations even if those who conduct the hearings are from the animal farm or people with political agenda. Information becomes indispensable to a public swimming in muck created by these investigations and wanting to go for a quick, cleansing shower.
(ninicab@sunstar.com.ph)
(October 2, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
