Affirmative: Freedom of Information Bill Propositions: The Philippines is a democratic country which has a government that allows people

to participate actively. It has a constitution which was ratified by the sovereign people. This constitution provided the rights of the people and part of those was the right to be informed. As stated in Article 3 section 7 of the constitution, the right to be informed with the matters concerning the government such as the transactions, expenditures, official acts, decisions, or similar to those mentioned shall be given to a citizen of this country. Hence, the freedom of information bill must be enacted by the congress. The provisions concerning the right to be informed are not self executory as the words used are seemingly vague and theres a need to clarify the said right. According to a known Constitutionalist Father Joaquin Bernas in his column at The Philippine Daily inquirer, the provisions of Article 3 paragraph 7 is not self executory and therefore theres a need of statutory implementation. The freedom of information has provided guidelines in order for the said provision to be more effective. The freedom of information bill will provide clarifications as how to further assert the right to be informed. People may be aware that such right provided by the constitution exists, but the process of getting this information or maximizing this right is not given to them. The bill, under Section 16, has provided a clear procedure for that, hence, making it easier for people to invoke the right to be informed. Transparency and accountability in the Government. In the past decades, the Government has been facing allegations regarding their unlawful expenditures of public funds. This can be seen in the case of the former president GMA where funds amounting to almost 1 billion pesos from 2009 to 2010 remained unlquidated. According to a statement given by Senator Franklin Drilon, chairman of the Senate finance committee, the 594 million pesos spent on foreign and local travel alone came from public funds based on the report of Commission on Audit. Moreover, there was no record at all of who was part of the delegation of the former president whenever she traveled abroad. These travels were said to be part of the former presidents negotiations with the other country for economic purposes. Now this fact alone clearly shows that the previous administration spent more than what it should spend without going through the required process. The government merely lacks transparency as to how this big amount of money is spent; which is why the right of public to be informed should be given importance. Meanwhile, a survey was conducted by Pulse Asia from Feb 24 to March 6 of this year regarding the most corrupt government agency in this country. The results ranked the most corrupt agency down until the very least one. Four out of every five respondents or 81 percent answered that these agencies are corrupt because of some issues and allegations arising every time that funds are involved. These were, however not yet proven. But with public being aware of how public funds are used by these agencies, speculations and allegations like these will be lessened. Section 7 of the revised freedom of information bill mandates the strict enforcement of disclosure to public of information such as the National Officials Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth or SALN on annual basis on their website, this includes the President, vice president, cabinet members, the congress, the supreme

court, the constitutional commissions and other constitutional offices, and officers of armed forces with general or flag rank. Thus, with this bill being implemented, the government will be more transparent and the relationship with its people will improve as people will gain more trust in them. The information disclosed to the public will be a prima facie evidence in cases involving public officials who are charged of malversation of public funds or alike. The freedom of information bill is gearing towards conviction of those public officials who have displaced the peoples trust by malversing funds. The information disclosed may be used as evidence against them if in the future they have committed such acts prohibited by law; A public official whether elected or appointed shall bear this consequence. The bill has provided the consequences or liabilities which a public official may incur in case of violation of the said bill. In support of this, Art. XI Section 17 of the 1987 constitution states that a public officer or employee shall, upon assumption of office and as often thereafter as may be required by law, submit a declaration under oath of his assets, liabilities, and net worth. This leaves them no choice but to be honest and accountable in the exercise of their public duties. Again, the Philippines is a democratic country with the democratic government which means, citizens have a direct and active participation in the decision making of the government. Without access to proper information, no democratic process can take place.