People’s access to information is key in reducing corruption in local and national government, which is now the core issue in the crisis in Maguindanao following the abduction and slaughter of 57 people in the country’s worst election-related violence and the world’s deadliest single attack against journalists.

This was the main message of Red Batario, Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD) executive director and Nepomuceno Malaluan, Access to Information Network (ATIN) lead convenor in a live radio discussion December 9 over dzMM’s “Dos por Dos” program with anchors Gerry Baja and Anthony Taberna.

Batario, who recently came from a foreign media mission to Maguindanao, said that while the massacre unearthed serious problems such as political violence and weakness of institutions to protect the people, it also underscored the attempt to impede people’s right to information which helps people decide wisely and call for reforms on how their communities are run.

“Without clear access to information, democracy and the real exercise of people’s rights are compromised,” Batario said.

Malaluan acknowledged the Senate for passing December 7 on second reading the proposed Freedom of Information Act (FOI Act). He noted that the passage seemed to be “light” amid the dark cloud brought by the Martial Law declaration in Maguindanao two days earlier, raising apprehensions among the public that it would also be imposed in other parts of the country.

Malaluan said that when finally passed into law, the FOI Act will make the Constitutional right to know and the state policy of full disclosure if transactions involving public interest fully operable. Access to information has increasingly become complicated because of lack of standard procedures to deal with requests and the absence of a law clarifying the exact scope of the right to information.

The radio discussion coincided with two important events which both underscore the importance of right to information: the UN World Anti-Corruption Day and the International Day of Action against Impunity against journalists, falling on the same day.

Malaluan appealed to the Senate to sustain the momentum by immediately approving the bill on third reading. “Under the dark cloud of Martial Law, we claim our freedom of information. Now more than ever we need to secure for the people the political rights that both empower and protect,” he said.

Formed in 2003 during the 12th Congress, ATIN is composed of 12 organizations and coalitions advocating for the full enjoyment of the public’s right to information guaranteed by the Constitution. It has been pushing the Senate to pass the proposed FOI Act before the 14th Congress concludes in February next year. Supported in part by the UNDP through the Fostering Democratic Governance project, the advocacy for the passage of the access to information bill has drawn broad multi-sectoral participation that now refers to itself as the “Right to Know, Right Now” movement.#