{"id":494499,"date":"2013-09-25T04:46:36","date_gmt":"2013-09-24T20:46:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/?p=494499"},"modified":"2013-09-25T04:46:36","modified_gmt":"2013-09-24T20:46:36","slug":"let-sunshine-in-with-foi-law-grace-poe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/494499\/let-sunshine-in-with-foi-law-grace-poe","title":{"rendered":"Let \u2018sunshine in\u2019 with FOI law\u2013Grace Poe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Sen. Grace Poe: Kill the \u201cgerms\u201d. FILE PHOTO<\/p><\/div>\n

MANILA, Philippines\u2014Exposing the government to the \u201csunshine of public scrutiny\u201d would kill the \u201cgerms\u201d that lead to corruption, Sen. Grace Poe said Tuesday as she pushed for the passage of the freedom of information (FOI) bill.<\/p>\n\n

Poe, chair of the committee on public information, said the aim of the proposed FOI law was to apply the \u201csunshine principle\u201d to government.<\/p>\n\n

In essence, this principle means that \u201call things not exposed to sunlight acquire germs,\u201d Poe said.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cExposing the government to the sunshine of public scrutiny will kill the germs and disinfect the microbes that lead to waste and red tape, abuse of authority and gross misconduct, and graft and corruption,\u201d she said in her sponsorship speech for the measure.<\/p>\n\n

Poe said the passage of the bill\u2014twice blocked in the House of Representatives\u2014was long overdue because there was a \u201creal, genuine public clamor\u201d for it.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI just find it quite unfortunate Mr. President that we had to wait for something like the recent misuse of funds issue to happen before this bill could garner bipartisan support in Congress,\u201d she said, referring to the pork barrel scam involving senators and representatives.<\/p>\n\n

It was sad, she said, \u201cto see that we Filipinos seem to have developed a higher tolerance level for corruption compared to our neighbors in Asia, and that we always seem to wait for things to go from bad to worse before we are moved to action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

This was not the case in other countries, she said.<\/p>\n\n

Poe said that after Sweden passed an FOI law in 1766 granting its citizens access to official public documents\u2014the very first country to do so\u2014Finland, Norway and Denmark followed suit. Even Thailand has passed its version of the law.<\/p>\n\n

So far, 94 countries have enacted such a law, while another 53 countries are on track to ratify similar legislation.<\/p>\n\n

Poe said such a law has a direct correlation on the incidence of corruption in a state.<\/p>\n\n

For instance, she said, the Scandinavian countries have consistently been rated as \u201cleast corrupt.\u201d In the 2012 Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International, Finland and Denmark shared the No. 1 spot as the least corrupt countries, while Sweden ranked fourth and Norway, seventh, Poe said.<\/p>\n\n

The Philippines currently ranks 105th least corrupt out of 174 countries.<\/p>\n\n

Even so, a vast majority of countries with such a law have freedom of information \u201cin name only, but not in spirit,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n\n

For it to be strong, the law must have a presumption of release, clearly defined exemptions, an independent implementing agency, efficiency and timeliness, and strict penalties for noncompliance, she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exposing the government to the \u201csunshine of public scrutiny\u201d would kill the \u201cgerms\u201d that lead to corruption, Sen. Grace Poe said Tuesday as she pushed for the passage of the freedom of information (FOI) bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":408761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,45],"tags":[28107,74852,1044,512],"byline":[132],"source":[206078],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLet \u2018sunshine in\u2019 with FOI law\u2013Grace Poe | Inquirer 黑料社<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Exposing the government to the \u201csunshine of public scrutiny\u201d would kill the \u201cgerms\u201d that lead to corruption, Sen. 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