Access to Information

Wheels of justice grind slow,
results, audit of funds slower

by Malou C. Mangahas

NUMBERS – people, cases, funds – are a messy, maddening mix in the courts. The numbers defy all myth and romance about the majesty and dread that literature ascribes to the men and women in robes, and indications are they pose a perpetual challenge for the administrators of the country’s judicial system.

Indeed, attempts of the judiciary to keep a firm grip on its budget and fiscal processes alone have already triggered periodic delays in completing audit reports, as well as caused recurring disputes on compliance with budget circulars that should apply across the bureaucracy.

Read more... | Posted Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Sidebar

Companies & jurists

by Malou Mangahas

AMID the relentless reticence of the justices of the Supreme Court to publicly disclose their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), the PCIJ launched a research into what could be their business interests and financial holdings by mining public records.

Our first stop was the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where we found various companies listing the names of various justices as either incorporators, stockholders or board members. To verify the list, the PCIJ gathered the latest Articles of Incorporation, General Information Sheets, and Financial Statements of these companies.

Read more... | Posted Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Justices keep SALNs secret

High court black hole
in transparency drive

by Malou C. Mangahas

GOOD GOVERNANCE is the solemn promise of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. Transparency and respect for access to information could enable it; the rule of law, or the prosecution of cases built on evidence before the courts, could assure it endures.

In President Aquino’s epic effort to rid the government of corruption, the judiciary will perform the critical role of arbiter, judge, and guardian. Yet the judiciary itself is nurturing a black hole of information, which could swallow into nothingness initiatives to limit, if not stop, corruption.

Read more... | Posted Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Advocates to Congress, P-Noy:

Rush FOI law, observe
disclosure rule even now

by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

THE 15th Congress must adopt, refile and pass with dispatch the version of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act that was aborted in the 14th Congress because of the feigned absence of a quorum on the last session day of the House of Representatives last June 4.

In a statement, the Right to Know Right Now! Coalition of over 160 civil society groups and leaders said, “the new senators and congressmen may do well not to repeat the processes so they can save valuable time and even more valuable taxpayers’ money.”

Read more... | Posted Sunday, July 4th, 2010
136 make a quorum!

Four more lawmakers
present at FOI session

by Annie Ruth Sabangan and Justine Espina-Letargo

FOUR MORE members of the House of Representatives yesterday said they were among those wrongly named as absent — according to a list provided by Speaker Prospero Nograles to the media – during the roll call at the Session Hall last Friday, June 4, when the ratification of the Freedom of Information Act was scuttled for supposed lack of a quorum.

The four bring to eight the number of lawmakers erroneously tagged as not physically present during the roll call.

The eight bring to 136 – one more than the 135 threshold for a quorum in the 269-member House – the number of lawmakers that was needed to constitute a quorum and act on the motion to ratify the FOI bicameral conference committee report.

Read more... | Posted Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Video

House fails to ratify FOI due
to supposed lack of quorum

House Majority Leader Arthur Defensor motions to ratify the Freedom of Information Act, which was objected to by Camiguin representative Pedro Romualdo. Romualdo is prepared to be ‘condemned’ for blocking the passage of the proposed legislation as he questioned the lack of quorum in the chamber ‘as a matter of principle’.

Read more... | Posted Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Sidebar

A different Legacy

by Annie Ruth Sabangan

NOBODY knows for sure how much money Speaker Prospero Nograles lost when he invested in at least one of the 12 banks under the collapsed Legacy Group of Companies.

One thing is certain: Nograles had admitted he lost money in Legacy.

Read more... | Posted Monday, June 7th, 2010
Can Prospero Nograles explain his wealth?

In 14 years, Speaker grows
wealth from P6.5M to P88M

OUT OF the last 14 years, lawyer Prospero Castillo Nograles spent 12 years as congressman of the first district of Davao City for five terms, and the last 27 months as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 14th Congress.

A leader of the 12th and 13th Congresses as well, Nograles by 2008 authored 17 House bills and co-authored 86. He also helped pass laws, including the Rent Control Law, which limits increases in rentals, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Read more... | Posted Monday, June 7th, 2010
The secrets of the House of Nograles

14th Congress buying 350 tables,
chairs for 15th Congress for P8M

by Malou C. Mangahas

WHAT SECRET or secrets of the House of Representatives under Speaker Prospero Nograles would escape public scrutiny, amid Congress’s failed effort to ratify the Freedom of Information Act last Friday?

Many have asked that question after noting that Nograles himself had co-authored House Bill No. 3732, the lower chamber’s version of the FOI bill, which was authored by a full two-thirds or 181 of about 220 House members.

Read more... | Posted Sunday, June 6th, 2010
Sidebar

Text blast vs FOI

by Annie Ruth Sabangan

A DAY before the Freedom of Information Act was supposed to be taken up at the House of Representatives, Speaker Prospero Nograles told media that text messages and phone calls were being made to ensure that House members would attend Friday’s session for the ratification of the FOI bill.

Read more... | Posted Sunday, June 6th, 2010

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