UP Forum May-June 2011

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

FORUM VOLUME 12 NUMBER 3

MAY - JUNE 2011

Filipino Culture and Access to Information

By Celeste Ann Castillo Llaneta

H

ere are a few common scenes in the daily lives of Filipinos: a group of housewives or tambays gossiping over coffee or gin bulag; a scientist or NGO worker teaching members of a rural community more efficient ways to earn a living; a public school superintendent waiting for last month’s Department of Education (DepEd) memorandum for posting in his or her office; a group of young people watching the latest telenovela or talk show on television.

Each scenario deals with access to and exchange of information, the latter defined as “knowledge concerning some particular fact, subject or event, intelligence or news.”1 Each also reflects certain aspects of Filipino culture. With the world now well and truly in the Information Age, these cultural

tendencies, often overlooked and taken for granted, play a part in our country’s survival in a global information economy.

Peer-to-peer sharing Filipinos are generally comfortable communicating. This was confirmed by a study presented by the Department of Communication Research of the UP Diliman College of Mass Communication (CMC) in 2006. The study concludes that, culturally speaking, Filipino communication is collectivist, family-oriented, highly contextual and hierarchical. In other words, Filipinos are most comfortable communicating with people of the same socio-economic status, age, educational attainment and linguistic group, and with members of the nuclear

family, although this varies depending on the topics being discussed. Filipinos also prefer face-to-face conversations, perhaps due to the importance of non-verbal cues in our communication style and the highly contextual nature of Philippine society.

Filipinos are least comfortable communicating with people of a different status, particularly with foreigners and those in positions of authority.2 With its focus on a random sampling of survey respondents from Metro Manila, the study offers a peek into the urban Pinoy culture when it comes to communication. However, with the rich diversity of people, settings and ethnolinguistic groups in the country, the bigger picture might be far more complex.

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FILIPINO CULTURE, from p. 1 Filipinos excel in peer-to-peer sharing of information. “Culturally, Filipinos are talkative and voluntarily share information, especially tsismis,” Dr. Benjamina Paula Gonzalez-Flor of the UP Los Baños College of Development Communication (UPLB-CDC) said. “They are ‘open’ to relatives, close friends, and people whom they think are ‘trustworthy.’ Sharing of information usually starts when you trust the person you are talking to. Then the source starts sharing a story, an event, or any social action of human interest.”

“In informal settings, such as story-telling or kuwentuhan, we’re verbose and vocal,” UPLB-CDC Dean Cleofe Torres said. “You get a lot of stories [and] you talk about the good things you did, your accomplishments and so on. We love to share these things.”

This degree of openness to people we consider our peers appears to be common among Filipinos.

According to Prof. Jimmy Fong, chair of the Department of Communication of the UP Baguio College of Arts and Communication (UPBCAC), even among remote indigenous tribes such information is willingly and generously shared with one another, perhaps to a greater degree than in urban areas. “In our traditional communities, where everybody knows everybody else in the baranggay and the populations are not as mixed, they seem to be very open [to information sharing]…This may also be because they speak one language within the communities, unlike in the cities.”

Trivialities This seeming openness, however, has its limits, based mostly on the quality of the information being shared. “We don’t like to listen to stories that might offend us or challenge what we have done,” Torres said. “We like to open up about personal stories, but not about things that perhaps might challenge our current status and help us develop better.”

“Normally, issues shared or discussed are mundane or trivial, which may not really affect societal change,” Flor said. She stressed, however, that useful information such as agricultural practices, cooking trade, and business strategies are not normally shared, since the information-receivers might eventually end up as competitors and perceived as threats to economic profitability.

In many of our information-exchanges, “we deal with a lot of trivia,” Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid (BSE’51), professor emeritus of the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC), said. “Our information exchanges border on the trivial because we’re more comfortable with it. It is less risky.”

In a culture that holds the values of pakikisama and pakikipagkapwa above all, information that could disrupt the smooth relations between kapwa and the inner harmony of the group is assiduously avoided.

Hence, we deal mostly with “safe topics rather than issues [or] serious matters that will divide and cause conflict. We don’t want to encourage debate,” Braid said, adding that even in national debates arguments tend to deal with details rather than tackle the bigger questions about life and society. Even our choice of entertainment skews toward the trivial. Philippine telenovelas, Braid said, tend to deal with superficial emotions that seldom engage the intellect, while Korean telenovelas revolve around issues about love and loyalty. “We’re not very reflective, which says a lot about our culture. [It’s all about] wanting to be safe again. We only scratch the surface.”

Hierarchical and inter-group sharing Dealing with people who are different (i.e., not kapwa) calls for a different communication and information-sharing style. This is true in the context of the workplace, in formal settings, in hierarchical bureaucracies and public institutions, and in dealings with people outside the community. The openness turns into caution, inhibition and reservation—the Filipino value of hiya, the fear of embarrassment or shame, working in combination with pakikisama and pakikipagkapwa.

“Generally, Filipinos are quite timid,” Torres said. “We find being reserved as a safe way of dealing with others; being articulate is often misunderstood as being arrogant.” The values of hiya and pakikisama, and the aversion to rocking the boat, also explain the Filipino’s aversion to complaining and creating a scene, even when the complaints are legitimate.

When such events do happen and cause us discomfort or any kind of cognitive dissonance—such as officials in a public institution withholding a service or a piece of information—we simply rationalize or explain these away in order to return to a more comfortable mental state as quickly as possible. “[These] are rather deep-seated values that govern very strongly our attitude toward access to information,” Torres said. “We do not demand information that we need because this is not socially approved. We have to request and wait until this information is served to us at the pleasure of the source in order not to offend anybody and still maintain social acceptance. To be direct, frank and demanding can cause us trouble and embarrassment.

We would rather agonize through the inefficiencies of our public institutions than earn their ire and suffer kahihiyan.”

The values of hiya, pakikipagkapwa and pakikisama also “explain our penchant to select which information to share,” Braid wrote in her Manila Bulletin column article last April 27. “One usually ‘sanitizes’ a piece of information to make it acceptable to the group’s expectation.

A value that is valued is that which does not present an opinion that contradicts the thinking of an esteemed member of a

group, especially a superior.”

There are also differences across regional or ethnic divisions, socio-economic backgrounds and genders. “Across ecosystems, the level of timidity usually decreases from uplands and coastal areas (the far-flung areas) to the lowlands,” Torres said.

“This could be attributed to the people’s level and frequency of exposure to other ethnic groups. Studies in communication have shown that those who are more mobile are more cosmopolite; and those who are more cosmopolite communicate more openly than those who have limited exposure to the outside world. Also, uplanders (e.g., Mangyans) tend to be more cautious in dealing with people outside of their tribal groups due to their bad experience with a number of outsiders.”

Torres also cited other differences: “Women, younger ones, those with higher education, better income, and those from the urban areas will be more open and willing to share information (compared to) men, older ones, those with lower education and income level, and those from the rural areas. Except for gender differences, which could be explained by genetic makeup and social upbringing, the differences between the other socio-demographic factors can be explained better by the degree of exposure to other groups socially associated with them.”

The ways we share (or not)

For Torres, Filipino values can be (and often are) managed and directed to work to facilitate information-sharing instead of merely inhibiting it. “I consider values as a resource. They have their positive and negative sides, and it depends on how we are able to manage them to our favor. For example, if there is information that we need from a particular office, this can be accessed more readily from a person who is indebted to us for something else. Out of utang na loob and kahihiyan, the indebted person can usually find all means to get the information that we need in order to repay his (or her) debt of gratitude…On the other hand, such values can also cripple our desire for a more transparent exchange of information. Thus, we do not seek out information as often as we need to as it can be misconstrued as being makulit and a violation of smooth interpersonal relations, as well as an affront to the concerned authority.”

This cultural inhibition is also true for the giving of information as well as the seeking of information.

“We become over-modest sometimes,” Braid said.

“We do not share as much of what we know [for fear that we be perceived as] mayabang.” It is a form of pakikisama not to disagree with the group consensus, just as it is a form of hiya or modesty not to come off as if we know more than everyone else. “Out of a desire to conform, you hesitate to share [what you know]. You try to gain ‘‘pogi points’, or you keep things light.”

The individual’s reluctance to share critical information becomes a little more understandable given the tendency of a group or community to close itself off to information from outside or information deemed undesirable in order to maintain group cohesion. Fong observed this among baranggays in remote areas in the north. “They don’t seem to Left: UPLB-CDC Dean Cleofe Torres. Inset: be very open to critical or contradicting ideas, or UPLB-CDC Prof. Benjamina Paula G. Flor to discussions [of these ideas]. From their point of view, if you contradict them or disagree with their views, you are doing it merely to cause trouble, not because you would like to improve certain projects and programs.”

This shortsighted and often egocentric closing off to the information-sharing process can end up negatively affecting the entire group. Fong described cases wherein an elected official becomes unable to implement any of his or her community development projects, because the councilors regard him or her as an outsider and refuse to cooperate. When this happened to the mayor of Baguio City, the result was a city-wide garbage problem and a lot of inconvenience for everyone.

“We regard transparency and openness as FILIPINO CULTURE, p. 3

FORUM May-June 2011 3 FILIPINO CULTURE, from p. 2 positive values, just as we regard the value of sharing knowledge,” Braid wrote in her column article. “But even as we realize that it is important to cooperate, collaborate and share information, our hierarchical and centralized structures hamper the full and free exchange of information.”

Information literacy vs education Social structures and institutions are built on the beliefs and attitudes of the people. In this case, the inherent attitude is the Filipinos’ general passivity when it comes to information and information access—a lack of “information literacy” according to Braid. In her column, she gave a comparison between Japan, a highly information-literate society, and the Philippines. “Anyone who has traveled in Japan’s bullet train would agree that the first thing one notices is how the Japanese traveling in these trains use their time to catch up with current events.

Everyone is reading the news on their computer or newspaper. Here, the passengers in the MRT or a bus would be occupied not so much with listening or reading the news, but with activities that do not engage the intellect.”

Torres said that this apparent lack of appreciation for the value of information is a concern. “In a number of studies we have reviewed and undertaken in development communication, findings indicate that respondents from farming, fishing, and rural communities (which form the majority of our population) are more of passive information receivers than proactive information seekers. They tend to just wait for information to reach them than actively seek out the possible sources of information they need.”

This may be due to their geographical distance from possible sources of information; their reliance on “gatekeepers”; and the cost involved in seeking out the information they need.

“Information is perceived as a public good that should be given for free,” Torres said. “Rarely do we find people willing to pay for the information they need.” Information, as far as people are concerned, is something that comes to them without their having to exert effort, like rain. “They do not look at information as something like gold, something worth a lot. Otherwise, they would find ways to seek information.”

UPB-CAC Dean Purificacion Delima agreed. “I don’t think they have that consciousness.” The lack of appreciation for the value of information results in a general passivity, reactivity and disempowerment.

This is more striking in the case of chronically information-deprived communities. “They do not have the consciousness that they can do something to better their conditions, that they can participate in discussions about the impact of information [on their communities]. It’s just not there.”

In a culture that takes pride in educational attainment, this passive attitude toward information access appears odd. But as Fong and Delima stressed, Filipinos value education mainly for the boost it gives them in terms of career options, not for the knowledge, broadened viewpoint and thinking skills it imparts. “It’s part of the miseducation [of Filipinos],” Fong said, “that most people go to school not to learn but to get a degree so they could get a job. What they get from their education are not the skills they need to develop their communities, but the skills required to work abroad.”

Delima recalled the experience of the Education and Assistance Program of UP Baguio which aimed to help Cordilleran youth enter UP and support them through their UP education. “We wanted to train them in the UP mission and vision because we wanted them to go back to their communities and serve.” Unfortunately, most of the students under the program opted to shift to different universities that offered courses that their parents believe could improve their chances to be employed abroad, such as nursing. In the end, the Education and Assistance Program was forced to close.

Predictably, such a narrow view of the function

Top: UPB-CAC Dept. of Communication Chair Jimmy Fong and UPB-CAC Dean Purificacion Delima. Inset: AIJC Professor Emeritus Dr. Florangel Rosario-Braid

of education backfires on the communities. Through his work with an NGO, Fong has experienced the frustration of having to teach the communities how to create and implement a project proposal over and over again because there was nobody among them who knew how to do it. “Where are those [members of the community] who went to college who could have done these things?” he asked. More often than not, the university-trained people are working in the cities or abroad, leaving the communities to fend for themselves.

Torres observed that our current educational system trains students to be passive receivers of information. “The school is also a place where traditional values are instilled. The children are not given the liberty to be critical and open. If a student questions things in class, we label this student disrespectful or mayabang.” In addition, most teachers find it easier to spoon-feed information to their students; rare is the teacher or educational institution that would actively encourage students to question, to seek knowledge on their own, and to learn at their own pace, according to Torres.

Sources of information Filipinos get their information from a variety of sources. “We are highly personal in our dealings and even in the way we source our information. Thus, our usual practice is to ask our friends, classmates, relatives or officemates—our ‘invisible college’— rather than refer to books or more reliable references.

We tend to refer to people whom we trust and can readily access the information we need if they do not necessarily have full knowledge of the subject.”

According to Flor, the kind of information needed, as well as the particular qualities and interests of the information seeker, determine the access channels of this information. “Accessing information is personal.

You cannot expect everyone to read or listen to an info campaign. Any person needing answers to certain questions would ask a neighbor or a friend.

An IT-literate person would surf the net for answers.

Educational qualification and desire for information are positively correlated. The level of literacy also affects how we absorb information.”

Not surprisingly, one credible and certainly the most popular source of information is the mass media. “Filipinos, especially the C and D classes, tend to believe the mass media. What they hear and see on television or hear from prominent broadcasters becomes reality or factual information,” Flor said.

Another highly credible source of information is government agencies, particularly those with the mandate to inform the public about certain issues—the Department of Health for health matters, the DepEd for education issues and so on.

For Delima, directly accessing information from

these government agencies is most preferable, for instance, through official directives, memoranda, announcements via websites and press releases. This ensures greater reliability of the information.

The academe is also considered a highlycredible source of information. In fact, when it comes to sorting out contradicting information, particularly those dealing with controversial issues, most Filipinos turn to the academe and government institutions with the mandate over the issues for clarification. “In our studies and experience, these are the ones usually believed,” Torres said. For example, between two scientists offering contradicting information about safety issues regarding genetically-modified food, people tend to believe the university-based scientist rather than the one employed by a private corporation.

“Whoever has the mandate [to inform]” is the most credible, she said.

At the grassroots level, the most believable sources of information are the “gatekeepers” or “fountainheads”—people who have evolved into sources of information or knowledge for the community, whether or not their knowledge is correct. “[Gatekeepers] have power but the sources of their power can vary,” Torres said. Gatekeepers— known to field researchers and NGOS as the people to talk to in order to gain access to the rest of the community—may be those who are wealthier or more educated than the others, a revered elder with the most knowledge about the community’s history or an elected baranggay official. Gatekeepers are not limited to far-flung communities, however.

They are found in every level of society, even in government institutions and universities, where they are known as the right-hand man or the “power behind the throne,” at times more powerful than the actual boss. “That’s why they are called ‘gatekeepers.’ They can keep the gate wide open or keep it closed. You might not be able to access a manager or the chancellor [in a university] just because his or her secretary or assistant would not FILIPINO CULTURE, p. 12

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THE UP FORUM ROUNDTABLE

on

PUBLIC

Q

How can public information help in national development?

Defeo: For starters, the two key concepts (public information and national development) have to be operationalized.

Public information is information “originating from the field of work of public sector bodies and occurring in the form of a document, a case, a dossier, a register, a record or other documentary material...drawn up by the body in cooperation with other body, or acquired from other persons,” according to the Information Commissioner of the Republic of Slovenia (http://www.ip-rs.si).

In the Philippines, the 1987 Constitution guarantees the right of every citizen to public information, as embodied in Article III, Section 4 of the Bill of Rights which states that “[t]he right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized. Access to official records, and to documents and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law” (http://www. chanrobles.com/article3.htm).

National development, simply defined, is “the ability of a country or countries to improve the social welfare of the people, e.g., by providing social amenities like good education, pipeborn water, etc.” (http://wiki.answers. com).

Every Filipino should benefit from

the free flow of information. This information can be used as a potent tool to fight poverty and demand from the government better amenities like clean water, health care and education.

Giving people access to public records likewise enables them to participate more fully in public life. By extension, such access brings forth a check-andbalance continuum where government power and authority are concerned.

"Public information, by itself, cannot contribute as much to national development.

To do so, it needs to be disseminated as widely as possible.

What is of prime importance is that public information reaches its intended audience."

— Defeo “Without information about what our government is doing, we cannot make assessments about the decisions our government is making,” notes Sandra F. Chance, J.D., Executive

Ruben D. F. Defeo Professor College of Fine Arts Director, Information Office UP Diliman

Primo G. Garcia, PhD Associate Professor Faculty of Management and Development Studies Director, Information Office UP Open University

Director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, University of Florida.

Thus, the free flow of public information is crucial to democracy.

To be relevant to national development, however, public information must be accurate and timely.

However, public information, by itself, cannot contribute as much to national development. To do so, it needs to be disseminated as widely as possible. What is of prime importance therefore is that public information reaches its intended audience.

For a long time, public information was controlled by the mass trimedia of print, radio and television.

At the close of the 20 th century, however, modern information and communication technologies and the Internet exponentially increased the speed, volume and reach of information, making these the most powerful information dissemination tools today.

However, the role of media to inform society is old. Today, both the traditional and electronic media must take on an added role―that of “inducing society to further development. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism defines the media’s roles as “a catalyst for social debate” and a medium for “strengthening and scrutinizing democratic institutions.”

It is therefore very disheartening that the Philippine Congress failed to pass the proposed People’s Right to

Information Act of 2009 on June 4, 2010 due to “lack of quorum.”

Filed on May 25, 2009 by Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia S. Cayetano and Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, the bill seeks “to do away with the code of silence that there is in every single level of Government. It does away with see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil; something so pervasive in the dayto-day affairs of Government” (http:// www.marocharim.com/2010/06/05/apantheon-of-shame/).

The said bill should have been the enabling law to guarantee every Filipino the right to public information.

Garcia: Public information is important to national development because it is a basis for action. It helps people make sense of the world around them. It is very crucial to making policies and programs for national development.

Social problems are complex. They have to be understood from different angles. Our decisions and plans are based on assumptions that have been shaped by public information. Without accessible public information, it would be difficult to create and implement appropriate policies and programs.

An important issue in national development is sustainability. The government has initiated several programs to address the problems of poverty, health, environmental degradation, corruption―the list goes on. Many of these interventions have not been sustained due to lack

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INFORMATION

Michael L. Tee, MD, MHPEd Associate Professor College of Medicine Director, Information, Publication and Public Affairs Office UP Manila

Ma. Stella C. Tirol, MS Associate Professor College of Development Communication Director, Office of Public Relations UP Los Baños

Liah C. Catedrilla, PhD Associate Professor College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences Director, Information and Publications Office UP Visayas

Jimmy Balud Fong, MA Associate Professor Chair, Department of Communication College of Arts and Communication UP Baguio

of participation of the program beneficiaries. This has usually resulted from the failure of program organizers to involve beneficiaries in the early stages of program development.

Another factor is the lack of accessible and timely information on these interventions. Even before people can participate in these programs, they need to be aware of the issues surrounding the problems. Sometimes, the problem is not necessarily the dearth of information but its accessibility.

Either the information was released in a disjointed manner given the fragmented nature of our bureaucracy or it was communicated in a way that target beneficiaries did not fully understand.

People’s participation in democratic processes like elections is also shaped by public information. Even if certain allegations are exposed in the media, concerned parties find it difficult to pursue them due to lack of access to relevant public documents. We cannot mature as a democracy unless we are given access to public information that we can use to create discourses that uplift the level of our political processes.

Public information can also help strengthen partnerships among different sectors in society. Recently, the government has worked with civil society in local and national affairs.

Institutions partner with institutions that are ”recognizable” to them. How an institution is recognized by the

public is partly defined by the kind of information it provides about itself―the values it stands for, the projects it undertakes, etc. So when it comes to public-private partnerships for development, public information and communication is as important to a government agency as it is to a nongovernment organization.

The lack of accessible public information has, in a way, hampered people’s access to social services.

While the government has several social assistance programs, many are still unaware of their existence or the process of accessing them. Had we been properly informed of these services, there probably would be less people lining up and trying their luck on television game shows to help their sick family members.

The same problem exists in UP. We have been involved in extension work and public service for years, yet for many Filipinos, UP’s role is limited to teaching the best and the brightest of the land. Many are unaware of our research and extension activities. Even institutions that want to partner with us may not be so familiar with the strengths of the various units across the UP campuses.

If we want to make public information truly relevant to national development, we may have to expand our notion of public information dissemination. The old media are effective ways to inform the people. In addition, we need to take advantage of

the new media, particularly the Web, particularly social media networks, both for information dissemination and facilitating public discourse on issues of national concern. As we have seen from recent events like the massive earthquake in Japan, the political uprising in Libya and the devastating typhoon Ondoy, social media networks

between people and institutions. How the public receives the information is just as important as how the information is communicated to the public. People use public information to achieve political outcomes, and this may not be as straightforward as we would like it to be.

"The lack of accessible public information has, in a way, hampered people’s access to social services. While the government has several social assistance programs, many are still unaware of their existence or the process of accessing them."

— Garcia are an effective tool not only for transmitting information but also for mobilizing people to action.

While access to public information is important to national development, accessibility is not merely a matter of transmitting information or making it available. Public information is subject to interpretation and negotiation

Tee: The availability of useful, accurate and timely information is a key component of development. Strategic assessments, the starting point of any activity geared toward development, can only be as precise as the data on which analyses are based. As Sun Tzu once said, “Knowledge cannot be gotten from ghosts and spirits. Cannot be had by analogy, cannot be found out by calculation. It must be obtained from people, people who know the conditions.”

The same can be said about the usefulness of public information in national development.

National development begins with properly crafted policies and the subsequent success in its implementation. Both of these depend on the kind of public information available. Not all available information is accurate; neither can all of it be considered timely. But even when the information is timely and correct, the way it is presented can also affect the way it is used in policy-making.

It is therefore important to ensure that information is accurate before ROUNDTABLE, p. 6

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ROUNDTABLE, from p. 5 it can be disseminated to the public.

Information can be about the current state of affairs, actions taken by the authorities, and the outcomes and the changes that may be expected in the future.

In this age of e-interactions, the flow of information has become instant and the feedback, immediate.

There are new opportunities to market information and ideas. We have witnessed how the availability of information has made possible the people’s participation in national affairs and development.

Public information no longer needs to be solely presented through the old media. Public information officers have the multimedia to use in communicating data to influence action.

But while social media networks may have proven effective among some segments of our society, old media like television, radio and film may still be the most important and far-reaching.

Thus, the challenge to information officers is to create different faces for information. They should be able to create a face that will be appreciated by policy makers and will contribute to the effective implementation of policies and reforms.

Perhaps another important impact of available information is its potential for inspiring more accountability among public institutions and public figures.

Tirol: I look at public information as information produced responsibly and made accessible to the public.

Public information may cover topics like agriculture, health and nutrition, science, governance, policy, culture, religion and other concerns. The information can be disseminated through various media such as newspapers and other printed materials, or radio, television, and the Internet.

On the other hand, I see development as a process that involves people using their knowledge and skills and showing willingness to change to achieve a better quality of life.

Public information is a resource that can spin the wheel of development.

As an input to development, public information can play multiple roles especially when it is oriented toward a need, a problem or an issue, as well as when it is delivered at the right time.

Public information can plant the seed of change in society. It has the potential to provide people with new ideas, raise their aspirations or create new tastes. If housewives are informed about cheap, easy-toprepare, nutritious meals, they may be motivated to try out the recipe. When information about organic farming is shared with peasants, they may think about using it to increase crop yield and help save the environment.

Public information is also a tool for transparency. When people know the facts and figures concerning government expenditure, health benefits, insurance claims and other related topics, they learn to trust their leaders. If public information exposes

anomalies or misuse of funds, people can be motivated to take action and participate in correcting the flaw.

With information made accessible to the public, people will know the

"The challenge to information officers is to create different faces for information.

They should be able to create a face that will be appreciated by policy makers and will contribute to the effective implementation of policies and reforms."

— Tee choices available to them in addressing their needs or in resolving an issue in their community or country. The information may help them identify opportunities and understand the limitations that may affect their choices in solving a problem or issue.

Public information can therefore help people make informed decisions.

During election time, information about the candidates is disseminated to the public to help them choose their leaders, reminding them to vote wisely.

“Information is liberating,” says one communication expert. Public information can free people from ignorance and manipulation. In one village in Zambales, a farmer said that he was cheated because of his inadequate skills in mathematics and lack of knowledge of the current market price of crops. Information may be provided to him on how he can brush up on his numeracy skills and learn about product price so he can benefit more from his market activities. Knowledge can truly lead a person to achieving more in life.

The old adage “knowledge is power” shows what public information can do to people. The right information given at the right time gives a person access to the resources he or she needs and allows him or her to exercise some control in using them. Information about climate change can empower farmers to mitigate risks and adapt to the changing environment. If a mother reads about generic drugs and where to access them, she gains access to the drugs to her benefit.

Public information can contribute to development by providing explanations and rewards, offering new alternatives, motivating and allowing participation, and empowering the public. While it is the responsibility of information providers to ensure that they give only accurate information, end-users should use this information wisely by making it a tool for learning and developing their potential. Only then can development take place.

Catedrilla: In a country like the Philippines where economic, social and political problems stand in the way of development, various approaches and strategies are necessary to keep development efforts going.

Basic to this is providing the right information to concerned sectors and stakeholders.

Information gives people reason for interaction. It is also a tool for decision-making, as it helps individuals and organizations make the right decisions which may eventually lead to the realization of their goals and objectives. Accurate information given at the right time is critical in resolving conflicts and addressing issues and problems among individuals.

The adage “knowledge is power” is relevant to national development.

Citizens should have access to information that will help enlighten, inspire, provide more options or wider perspective, give lessons, lead or set

"While it is the responsibility of information providers to ensure that they give only accurate information, endusers should use this information wisely by making it a tool for learning and developing their potential. Only then can development take place. " — Tirol the pace and ultimately empower them.

They need to be informed about their rights, the issues that concern them, and recent developments as well as existing laws.

Citizens should know where and how information can be accessed so that they can respond quickly and appropriately. If the need arises, they could use the information to defend themselves, take precautions and assist the government in whatever way they can. This is an empowering process because it allows them to contribute to improving the quality of their lives. Development may be a complex process but with accurate, quality and timely information, it is not impossible to achieve it.

As the national university, UP should play a major role in giving the public the information it needs. For information officers like us, it is not just the act of releasing information that should concern us, but more importantly, the responsibility and accountability that goes with the information we give to the public.

In the context of the work of the UPV Information and Publications Office (IPO), public information

comes from the various units of the university. They give information on various projects and activities; academic, research and extension programs and facilities; available expertise; and achievements that are in line with their respective mandates for both the external and internal publics. Information also comes in various media forms such as news and feature articles in UPViews (a regular bimonthly publication in UPV), university reports (annual reports, Chancellor’s end-of-term reports, etc.), videos, leaflets, brochures, streamers, press releases, orientation for guests and the UPV website.

Information about UPV may be accessed mainly through its publications, the UPV website, press releases, the Visitors’ Center and the events boards. The UPV-IPO caters to both internal (administrators, faculty, REPs, administrative staff and students) and external (alumni, local government officials, general public) audiences.

Information about the university’s academic offerings provides the prospective Iskolar ng Bayan career options. Researches and publications of its faculty and REPS inform the public about recent developments in various fields, benefiting not only UP but also the country.

Information on the extension programs and activities, including generated technologies from research, also shows the public how the university empowers individuals and communities for development.

Informing the public about the available expertise in the university is a way of showing the public and other interested agencies and organizations that experts can be tapped to assist in the planning, implementation and evaluation of their programs and activities.

"As the national university, UP should play a major role in giving the public the information it needs.

For information officers like us, it is not just the act of releasing information that should concern us, but more importantly, the responsibility and accountability that goes with the information we give to the public."

— Catedrilla Information on the achievements of students, faculty, researchers and administrative staff of the university also inspire the public to try their best to excel in their chosen fields.

ROUNDTABLE, p. 12

Public Information, UP-Style

FORUM May-June 2011 7

By Bernice P. Varona

T

o the casual observer, “public information” may seem to be something that is immediately apparent like articles printed in the newspaper, or something shown on television. But public information is much more complex, as it in fact invokes an individual’s legal right to information and an organization’s obligation to provide it.

According to the Philippine Constitution, people have the right to information on matters of public concern. Such information includes official records, documents and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, decisions and government research data used as basis for policy development.

The University of the Philippines (UP) is not exempt from the responsibility to provide public information. This responsibility became more pressing when UP became a national university.

In his concept paper regarding his plan for the UP System Information Office (SIO), Assistant VicePresident for Public Affairs Danilo Arao said that public information is “information important to the public. It should be free from political color and could therefore come from any source. The importance of information is assessed according to its significance to public lives.”

That UP stands for public service is already a given. Information therefore that is deemed important for the public to know is part of its duty to the nation.

“In the context of public affairs, mechanisms for public information should be in place so that the university remains relevant to its mandate as stated in the UP charter, and as articulated in the vision paper of UP President Alfredo Pascual where he said that UP “has a historic commitment of service to the Filipino nation,” Arao stressed.

Aside from the physical manifestation of public information, as can be seen in records, transcripts and similar documents, there is more to consider. It is important to understand the context in which public information evolved. As a result of the people’s uprising in EDSA, the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) was established under Executive Order No. 100, signed by then President Corazon Aquino in 1986. The PIA was created to help ensure democratic participation and transparency in governance where the constituency must be armed with the necessary knowledge to take part in government affairs, be able to discuss and make better decisions and to exact accountability. “Public information must therefore be understood as a means to exact honesty and responsibility. It is not a box that has to be kept open anytime, anywhere and for anyone for any purpose.

Public information serves a higher good,” UPLB Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco said.

And which “public” does UP serve? Aside

from its faculty, students and alumni, UP’s public includes other stakeholders, among them its partnerorganizations and individuals who are involved or have an interest in the university. Public information in UP also serves the teaching, research and extension service functions of the university, and information that will enhance and support the growth in these areas should be made available. This information is used not only within UP, but is also used by people in government and private corporations and other groups. “It must be stressed that UP’s audience goes beyond its community of students, faculty, staff, REPS, alumni and residents,” Arao wrote in his concept paper. “Its voice is not only heard but is also sought by the three branches of government, other education institutions, and the public at large.”

The academic freedom for which UP is known also carries the responsibility to provide information that is crucial to the nation’s progress and development.

Accessing public information in UP Given the responsibility to provide public information, UP has its system of making public information as available to all as possible. This system stresses accessibility, organization, dissemination and accountability for the data it has within its reach.

The organizational chart of the university serves as a map in finding specific information.

For example, if written records or transcripts are needed, the most logical place to go is the Office of the University Registrar (OUR). For UP’s’ financial situation, people can go to the UP Budget Office.

Nowadays, the retrieval of data is made even faster with digitization and the Internet—much of the information that the public needs is online or is just a click away.

The advancement in technology not only helps in accessibility; it also makes storage of files easier and more lasting. Most of the offices in the university are now putting their files and records in digitized format for more efficient transactions.

Digitization also helps conserve space as bulky

documents and filing cabinets are replaced with hard drives, compact discs (CDs) and computers that are not easily damaged by humidity and age. Tracking the status of a specific document and its processing is also made easier, as can be seen in Document Tracking Project or ‘DocuTrak” which is now being used by some offices in the campus.

UP websites are mines of information as they not only provide news and events but also a venue for posting announcements, results, newsletters, directories and other information for a wider audience. Offices in colleges and constituent campuses (CUs) have created their own social media accounts in popular platforms like Facebook and Twitter to further link people and facilitate information exchange.

Aside from digitization and going online, other methods in making public information in UP accessible include printed materials and publications such as newsletters and brochures. There are also visitors’ and information centers where people can call or inquire directly.

The UP System, aside from having its own website (that also links websites of other CUs), publishes the UP Newsletter monthly and the UP Forum every other month to disseminate information in the university. The UP System Information Office (SIO) under the Office of the Vice-President for Public Affairs (OVPPA) is in charge of this. For their part, CUs have their own information or public affairs offices.

There is room for improvement in making public information more accessible. Some requests are bogged down by bureaucratic procedures (i.e., the infamous red tape). Others are simply bewildered and lost as to where to find the information they need.

UP Open University (UPOU) Chancellor Grace Alfonso said that information in UP is dispersed.

“There is also no system by which we can link or relate one information to another. Even people within UP find it difficult to access information on the expertise of the faculty members across the various disciplines offered by the university— basic information crucial to the promotion of interdisciplinary work. We need to find or develop a system where the public can access information that cuts across our campuses. We also need to strengthen the information flow between our CUs so we can easily direct the public to the most appropriate source of information.” She said that new media, which include social media, would play a bigger role not only in dissemination but also in facilitating public discourse. “In the Web 2.0 age, the public is not just a consumer of information. They are also co-creators UP-STYLE, p. 10

8

FORUM May-June 2011

How Government Information Can Save Your Life:

PHIVOLCS and PAGASA

By MAI Andre D.P. Encarnacion

T

he people’s right to access information held by government is one of the most widelyrecognized hallmarks of modern democracy. More than 80 countries have freedom of information laws to promote openness and transparency.

Article III, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution states that “(a)ccess to offi cial records, and to documents, and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to limitations as may be provided by law.” But the lack of general understanding and supporting legislation has historically hampered this guarantee.

In the Philippine context, the issue of government-held information has been in the limelight as a result of two issues that are fairly recent but very different.

The non-passage of the freedom of information (FOI) bill on June 4, 2010 and the Japan earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 revealed two

The ubiquitous nature of government-held information actually in circulation is sometimes taken for granted. Though the dealings and transactions made by departments and officials are greatly important, the government makes available a range of beneficial information of quite a different sort. In fact information from institutions such as PAGASA and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) has become such a part of daily life for many Filipino that its importance is usually understated.

Until of course something goes wrong.

This scenario is something people like PHIVOLCS Director Dr. Renato Solidum try to avoid by making information accessible. “We have four major services,” Solidum said. “The first is monitoring and warning for volcano and earthquake hazards; the second is hazards and risks assessment; the third is research and development; (and) the fourth is disaster awareness/preparedness

dif different facets of information access in the Philippines. While the first is considered by many to be a setback in exorcising the old ghosts of corruption, preventing full public disclosure of government transactions, the second revealed a considerably more optimistic side to information access in the country, even if in a different context.

In truth, Dr. Nathaniel Servando, acting administrator of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that Filipinos in general have become better informed and disciplined in dealing with crises. He attributed it to advances in technology and an improved climate of information access to this change in mentality.

“Communications have become advanced,” he said, noting the cooperation among agencies and departments concerned in making pertinent information available to the people, as well as the political will of the national government in controlling situations like the aftermath of the Japan earthquake.

and risk mitigation.”

“All of (these) services...have the same common product, and that is information,” he said. PHIVOLCS constantly produces various information on disaster warnings, as well as research on volcanoes and earthquakes, hazards, awareness, preparedness and risk reduction. “The philosophy of PHIVOLCS is to make (information) available through various means because (it) is our prime product. And information must be available to people in an understandable manner, and must be as scientifically correct as possible.

Forewarning should be timely, and for other awareness materials they should be appropriate and presented in context.”

Similarly, PAGASA realizes the importance of information access to their organization.

“PAGASA provides services in the form of warnings, forecasts, advisories and bulletins on extreme weather events with the purpose of minimizing the impacts of these phenomena,” Servando said.

With information massed from several observational stations from around the country, people with queries on meteorological matters can

“We are service-oriented”

easily find themselves serviced. This commitment to bringing information to the people and the undeniable relevance of its data won for PAGASA the government category prize in the 2010 DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards which highlights best practices from various websites in the Philippines.

The swift and accurate deployment of meteorological and volcanological information is vital for a large number of industries. The agricultural sector is one of the most dependent on PAGASA, particularly its season forecast.

The water resource sector is another, with Servando mentioning how coordination within the organization especially when water levels in dams are critically high or low is important in determining the proper course of action depending on the outlook. “Even the tourism and education sectors rely on PAGASA.” he said. It is during extreme weather events that most people come to see the importance of the information it

provides.

“In tourism,” he said, “many people who access PAGASA’s information online are travellers who would “like to know how the weather is in the places they are going.” Both the shipping and the aviation industries are also heavily reliant on PAGASA’s forecasts, while the Philippine Coast Guard coordinates with it to determine whether or not maritime vessels can set sail through extreme weather conditions.

A variety of methods In order to access and disseminate important information quickly and efficiently, both the PHIVOLCS and the PAGASA use a wide range of channels and methods. “For monitoring and warning for volcanoes we issue volcano evaluations or volcano bulletins for updates every day on volcanoes that are at an abnormal level.

Although data for other volcanoes is available, for the primary purpose of warning and (preparing) people, we issue daily bulletins coursed through the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) down to the local government,” Solidum said.

It is a similar situation for earthquakes.

PHIVOLCS AND PAGASA, p. 9

FORUM May-June 2011 9 PHIVOLCS AND PAGASA, from p. 8 “Other information on the monitoring side would be the occurrences of earthquakes, both felt earthquakes and unfelt events. Again we produce bulletins and share these to Civil Defense and post them on the website, b o t h f o r ear th q u ak es and volcanoes. Now the trimedia would always try to get information from us, so we also send these to (them).”

“For hazards and risks assessment,” he said, “we have information on the potential hazards related to earthquakes PAGASA Acting Administrator Nathaniel Servando and volcanoes.” There are several possible ways to disseminate this. peoples, an approach that has been pursued by “Obviously the easiest way is to post it on the the PAGASA and the PHIVOLCS for some time website and it can be downloaded for free. In some now. cases people come to us to get maps, and in other Rising from the rubble: The REDAS cases people visit us to get a document to certify “In PHIVOLCS,” Solidum said, “since we that their piece of land is safe from a potential produce a lot of information, we have to make sure ground rupture or any other hazard.”

In PAGASA’s case, aside from their website, that our activities are targeted. What we do is we officials frequently hold dialogues with journalists. develop activities that involve different divisions Weather reports are also accessible through the of PHIVOLCS and that information from these would be brought down to a particular community PAGASA hotline and through SMS. “Some of our most important products are and focus on the specific hazards that they face for forecasts and warnings,” Servando said. It is them to be prepared.”

“One of the easiest ways to do it is to conduct important that these arrive at their respective lectures within the community for teachers as well communities. One of the main methods used by as politicians and residents. We also have what we PAGASA to disseminate information is through the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management call a community-based preparedness for either a Council. The NDRMMC is vital because, according volcano or, most especially now, a tsunami where to Servando, it “(has) the network that spans from we do pilot preparedness for coastal villages where the national government down to the lowest level official and local officials are involved. This is so of government, all the way to the barangays.” in the end, after the community-based activity, Last year, PAGASA also unveiled its official they will be able to learn and duplicate this in Twitter account, further improving its capacity other areas through their leadership. Typically to disseminate timely weather information to this will also involve the Office of Civil Defense,” interested parties. As of May 2011, it already has Solidum said.

In community-based preparedness for tsunamis, more than 58,000 followers. for instance, different learning materials are used Watershed events not only to give a comprehensive picture of the Although technology has become a boon that nature of the risks but also to share knowledge in institutions like the PAGASA and the PHIVOLCS the most comprehensible way possible, in the lay take advantage of, disasters such as floods person’s language. Tsunami evacuation maps are and volcanic eruptions inevitably leave some developed where evacuation sites are identified communities more vulnerable than others. and possible routes of escape are clearly shown.

The 1990 Luzon earthquake, the 1991 eruption These are posted in key sites in the community and of Mt. Pinatubo and the devastation brought can be duplicated. Signs are also frequently used upon in 2009 by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng by PHIVOLCS for communities which identify were watershed events for both institutions. Their m o n i toring capacities were vastly improved after these events, with PAGASA benefiting from a new Doppler radar installation in Subic to help monitor rainfall, and PHIVOLCS tripling the number of its manned monitoring stations, and adding several more with digital sensors and recorders, among many other improvements.

But beyond the obvious need for funding and technological sophistication, what was brought to light by these events was the significance of reaching out to specific communities and its PHIVOLCS Director Renato Solidum

hazard areas evacuation centers and how to get there using local dialects with English subtitles.

“Awareness materials are varied in PHIVOLCS. We h a v e I D - s i z e d information materials on what to do (during an) earthquake (or) tsunami, and earthquake intensities…We also have posters that you can place on bulletins boards or other parts of a building.

We have comics in various languages about different earthquake hazards. And we have guidelines on how to prepare for earthquakes and evacuation, another for developing a tsunamiprepared community and many other things,” Solidum said.

One of the biggest triumphs for PHIVOLCS in this regard is the Rapid Earthquake Damage Assessment System (REDAS), which arose from the aftermath of the 1990 Luzon earthquake.

Although many areas were devastated by the quake, the government did not know where these were because communication was cut off.

“The REDAS enables a disaster manager, even a planner or local official, to find out which areas have been affected by strong ground shaking after a large-magnitude earthquake such that they are able to send responders to these areas even if there is no communication. Or they can call up (the) areas where they think the most damage occurred,” Solidum said.

The REDAS also allows local populations to determine areas potentially affected by liquefaction, landslides or the possible arrival of tsunamis in coastal areas. Community leaders can use this with data on locations of schools, hospitals, bridges, roads, etc. to assess the potential effects of the earthquake on exposed elements. They can also use the software for disaster preparedness and development planning because REDAS allows its users to simulate the effects of an earthquake before it even happens.

In addition, REDAS enables the users to “insert whatever maps or pictures are available for that locality, so maps from PAGASA and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) can be placed so you can have a layer of different hazards” that can all be assessed, according to Solidum.

Solidum said that there are two modalities with respect to the availability of training. “One is targeted because we have a project; the other is by request. Typically the training lasts for five days and a few hours in the evening, depending on how fast people get it.

On our part everything is paid for by PHIVOLCS except for the venue and food and lodging of participants, which should be sponsored by the local government.”

The proper way of reporting Although many know about PAGASA for its national forecasting services, planetarium and observatory, communitycentered projects also figure greatly in its PHIVOLCS AND PAGASA, p. 10

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FORUM May-June 2011

with pro-administration propaganda,” Arao said.

In fact the availability of information is weighed against the right to privacy of the applicants, security concerns and, more importantly, if it follows the mandate of the university on academic freedom and its being an instrument for national development.

Rules were also established to ensure accountability among the people handling the information and responsibility from those requesting the information. There are times when facts and figures, or even official issuances, have been misinterpreted and taken out of context by people who were entrusted with the information.

Mishandling of public information can lead to confusion, misunderstanding and even the stalling of progress in the university.

It is not only the administration that is asked to be transparent and accountable, but even organizations within the campus community. “Public information pertains to matters of public concern. The responsibility to keep the public informed rests not only with the UPLB Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco administration. As members of a state university, students, organizations and other constituents UP-STYLE, from p. 7 of meanings. And so we may need to re-define public should share the commitment to be transparent and information not only as an issue of access but also accountable in their dealings,” Velasco said.

UP plays a significant role in providing public of negotiation.”

A more pressing concern is the preconceived information. It continues to explore ways to break notion that public information in UP is pro- down barriers to communication and accessibility and administration. “Given the propensity of various provide more relevant knowledge geared toward the UP, interest groups to distort its meaning, it must be betterment of our nation. “Public information at UP generally, is responsibly handled and disseminated, stressed that public information is not synonymous

PHIVOLCS AND PAGASA, from p. 9 drive toward broader access to meteorological information. Information and communication technologies have become important in creating a robust system capable of transmitting information in real time through difficult weather conditions.

Just as vital to the effective dissemination and reception of this information are clarity and the skill to interpret it understandably. Consequently, PAGASA conducts seminars for the media almost yearly to “educate journalists because they are the ones reporting about our products, particularly forecasts,” Servando said. They are trained in basic meteorology in sessions held not only in Metro Manila but in the different regions as well, with the program particularly geared towards new reporters.

“At the same time, we also conduct broadcasting training for our forecasters,” he continues.

“Because most of the time our forecasters report not only on TV during interviews, but also, particularly in the morning, they also report on radio stations. They too are taught the proper way of reporting,” Servando said.

With other government agencies such as PHIVOLCS, PAGASA also conducts communitybased approaches to meteorological and earthquake hazards in projects of risk assessment and hazard mapping. In these lectures participants in local communities are informed on the nature of specific hazards, what to do when they are hit, and are made to participate in fl ood-evacuation drills, among others.

The recent Japan earthquake and tsunami brought to the fore several emerging issues which have increased the public demand for information from the agency. “In fact, when it comes to climate change, there is almost a daily invitation for a resource person,” Servando said. He added that some of the most important sources of information for the public are seminars and fora, which they conduct regularly.

Some of these seminars and fora were traditionally held at the head offi ce. However, Servando said that they are now conducting them in affected areas themselves. The La Niña forum, for example, reveals the status of La Niña and its expected impact on the area. It is usually attended

by representatives from sectors that are likely to be affected although anyone who wishes to attend may do so, according to Servando.

“We are serious about it” Although well-developed, even information systems such as those of both agencies are still far from perfect. Despite the major successes of PAGASA in containing both the acid rain scare from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis and limiting the damage infl icted by Typhoon ‘Juan’ (Megi), an achievement lauded by many here and abroad, Servando sees much room for improvement.

“Every time we have extreme weather events we notice that our system slows down,” he said, “due to heavy traffic.” PAGASA is currently working with the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) to rectify this problem. Equally important is the current difficulty the agency has in addressing very site-specific and remote requests. He hopes PAGASA can increase the density of information accessible to it in the future by having more automatic weather stations around the country.

“There are projects where, for example, consultants request weather information on rainfall (from a very specific and remote area). Yung data lang sa mga nearest stations ang nabibigay namin (we can only give them data from our nearest station),” Servando said.

PAGASA has also lately tapped into SMS technology to warn municipalities of weather disturbances, whose leaders warn their constituents down to the barangay level. There are, however, certain groups such as small fisherfolk who Servando wishes in the future could receive information directly instead of relying solely on the media. “Sometimes in typhoons, it is difficult to communicate because the power is down,” he said. “I hope our communication capabilities can be enhanced when disaster preparedness is concerned.” Servando is hopeful that a better coordination with the telecommunication industry will increase their ability to get every Filipino better informed in the future.

UPOU Chancellor Gigi Alfonso

system-wide or specific to constituent units,” said UPB Public Affairs Director Victoria Costina. “I see sustained effort too at projecting UP as a national university whose teaching, research and extension service functions connect in a most vital way with the lives, needs and concerns of the Filipino people, and local communities in particular.”

-----------------------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph.

On the part of PHIVOLCS, Solidum stressed the importance of understanding and proper use of information. “First of all data given should be data understood and data to be used correctly. So we don’t only want to give data because it can be used wrongly. We want to give data so that it can be useful and properly evaluated.”

“So aside from improving our current sharing of data through various technologies we are actually planning to put in more intensity meters. For the next two years we’ll be putting in 100 intensity meters all over the country,” he said. Solidum stressed that calculating the intensity of an earthquake has to be done faster than using human eyewitnesses. These intensity meters will be installed in areas with 24/7 Internet connection where the local host can send the data directly to PHIVOLCS. Data will be shown as a map indicating the different intensities. “It gives civil defenders and responders better information right away after an earthquake.”

“We want to set up a web portal where this information will be seen directly by appropriate organizations, where the media can see it, and ordinary people can see it. We will put up our hazard maps with earthquake information as we get it and the warnings that we deliver,” he said.

Solidum stressed that PHIVOLCS should continue giving lectures and community-based preparedness, as well as provide awareness materials “so the data we deliver will be understandable and used correctly by people.”

Disaster preparedness is basically a part of our lives…A hazard becomes a disaster only if somebody dies, if we lose our property or (if) our economy is affected. But I think we have to be more positive about it. And to really be positive about it, we have a lot of information that are available, freely given. And these are quality information,” he said. “Information can be used to prepare for disasters—to make sure that we are not affected, our properties are not affected, and our economy can be better protected from the potential impact of disasters. We are serious about it. And I think for the whole country to be safer, everyone should be serious about it.”

----------------------------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph.

FORUM May-June 2011 11

Comparing freedom of information laws

By Solomon F. Lumba

B

o th the 1973 and 1987 Constitution s recognize that citizens have the right to information possessed by their government. But despite more than a decade of effort, there is still no enabling law that recognizes this basic right.

The closest the country ever came to one was on June 4, 2010 at the end of the 14th Congress. The House of Representatives (HOR) just needed to approve the Bicameral Conference Committee report on the freedom of information (FOI) bill, the last step before a bill is sent to the President for signing into law. But due to the artifice of some members of the HOR, the FOI bill was not passed.

At the start of the 15th Congress, Rep. Erin Tanada filed House Bill No. 53 (HB 53) which adopts in full the Bicameral Conference Committee version. HB 53 is now with the Committee on Public Information in both the Senate and HOR. M alacañang supports H B 53 but w ith some revisions. This article analyzes the more significant proposals in light of the FOI laws of the United States, India, South Africa and Mexico. These countries were not selected arbitrarily: Their laws embody most of the key features of FOI legislations. These include an independent review body, limited exceptions, public interest overrides, adequate penalties, presumption of disclosure, expedient procedures, reasonable fees, duty to publish certain kinds of information without being asked, declassification and records keeping.

The first four features will be used as bases for comparison as they are the ones mentioned in the Malacanang proposals.

Independent review body In the United States and South Africa, disputes between the government and private persons related to a request for information can be brought before the courts. In India and Mexico, they can be brought before an

UP College of Law assistant professor Solomon Lumba

independent commission.

Under HB 53, a private person can choose to bring such disputes either to the courts or to the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB). The Malacañang proposal is to bring them before an independent commission composed of a commissioner and assisted by two deputies appointed by the president. Given the clogged dockets of our courts and the OMB, as well as the benefits of specialization, is the establishment of an independent commission a better option?

Nevertheless, safeguards should be in place to protect the commission’s independence. A good example is the Federal Institute for Access to Public Information in Mexico which is said to be independent in its operations, budget and decision-making. Its five commissioners are appointed by the executive branch, subject to Senate approval.

Limited exemptions There are traditional areas exempted from the right to information such as national security, national defense, foreign policy, military and law enforcement operations, personal privacy, endangerment of life and safety, third party secrets (trade, commercial, financial, industrial), executive sessions, presidential communications and deliberative processes. HB 53’s list of exemptions expressly acknowledge these traditional areas, except for presidential communications and deliberative processes.

The Malacañang proposal is to also expressly acknowledge these two by including them among the exemptions.

Presidential communications cover communications of the president and advisors close to him. Deliberative processes cover deliberative material (advice, opinions, recommendations) received by other executive officials in the course of arriving at a decision.

These processes, to be exempted, must be predecisional and deliberative (i.e., non-factual).

On the other hand, presidential communications are exempted even if post-decisional and relating to facts.

Both exceptions are part of executive privilege.

The rationale for exempting them is to prevent premature disclosure of decisions and to preserve the quality of decision-making. After all, advisors might be less candid with their thoughts if these could be reported by media the next day.

The FOI laws of the United States, India, South Africa and Mexico expressly exempt deliberative

processes from the right to information. They are, however, silent on presidential communications for reasons discussed below.

Public interest override A public interest override allows private persons to access information falling within the exemptions, if the benefits of disclosure outweigh the benefits of secrecy. HB 53 allows its exemptions to be overridden if sufficient public interest is shown. The same is true under Mexican law “when the investigation of grave violations of fundamental rights or crimes against humanity is at stake.” Similarly, India’s exemptions can be overriden when the “public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests.” So too with South Africa where practically all of its exemptions can be overridden when the disclosure would reveal evidence of “a substantial contravention of, or failure to comply with, the law” or “an imminent and serious public safety risk or environmental risk”, and the “public interest in the disclosure of the record clearly outweighs the harm contemplated in the provision in question.” In the United States, the grounds for override are not found in the statute because they evolve in case law.

Malacañang proposes to exempt presidential communications from override, based on the assumption that such communications are absolutely privileged (exempt under all circumstances). This assumption is incorrect.

In United States v. Nixon, for example, which is oft-cited in our case law, the American Supreme Court rejected Nixon’s claim of privilege for his communications. It held that “neither the doctrine of separation of powers, nor the need for confidentiality of high-level communications, without more, can sustain an absolute, unqualified Presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process under all circumstances. The President’s need for complete candor and objectivity from advisers calls for great deference from the courts. However, when the privilege depends solely on the broad, undifferentiated claim of public interest in the confidentiality of such conversations, a confrontation with other values arises. Absent a claim of need to protect military, diplomatic, or sensitive national security secrets, we find it difficult to accept the argument that even the very important interest in confidentiality of Presidential communications is significantly diminished by production of such material for in camera inspection with all the protection that a district court will be obliged to provide.”

COMPARING FREEDOM, p. 15

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FILIPINO CULTURE, from p. 3 allow you to.”

Law of primacy of persuasion Whatever the source of the information is— neighbor or gatekeeper or government press release— in many cases what really matters is who gave the information first, thanks to the law of primacy in persuasion in advertising and public communication.

According to this principle, the side of an issue presented first will have greater effectiveness than the side presented subsequently.3 “That’s why we have the phrase, ‘first impressions last,’” Torres said.

“First impressions are more difficult to modify, even if they are not correct. So the timing of providing information is also very important.”

The law of primacy in persuasion is a source of the enormous power of the mass media, with its wide audience reach and ability to present a particular package of information with the greatest speed. Because of this power, even government press institutions prefer to release information through the mass media instead of giving these straight to the people through local government channels, or through the less widespread but more direct community media. This jeopardizes the reliability and objectivity of the information. “When [government press relations officers] pass information through the mass media, it becomes affected by the realities of mass media processes—the ratings, the competition, the need to entertain, the biases and slants, etc.,” Fong said. “The information that should have been neutral if given directly by the government then loses its neutrality.”

The problem of making decisions based on what you hear first is compounded by the mass media’s tendency, in hotly debated issues such as GMO foods and the Reproductive Health bill, to focus

ROUNDTABLE, from p. 6 Fong: The United Kingdom, say reports, is reaping economic benefits from the worldwide media focus on the recent royal wedding in London.

It is the result of the UK’s managing and controlling information on the spectacle for maximum effect and for billions of audiences.

An effective and efficient public information system should help spur development (even if only in better incomes for people) in the Philippines.

When the citizens are given timely and relevant information, they should be able to make intelligent decisions in their daily lives.

If our farmers have access to reliable information about prices and the supply-and-demand situation in the market, they would know what and when to plant and harvest so they can truly enjoy the fruits of their labor. If small farmers know what government programs and resources they can have access to, they might be able to improve their lot. If they understand the processes involved in accessing credit, they might be able to improve their production. If they

on the negative side first. According to Torres, this is “because the negative is more controversial and therefore more newsworthy” than the more factual but less interesting view that GMO food is safe to eat and reproductive health is a basic right. Fortunately, she said that through proper education and the development of critical thinking skills, “society can be trained to be more critical rather than just accept information that comes to them first.”

Information = power Knowledge and information have long since been equated with power, and thus are often subjected to the political games and power plays of those in high positions. “There is a tendency by some to hoard information because they think that sharing information means losing some of their power,” Braid wrote in her column article. “They do not realize that in the long run, they reap greater benefits when they share information.”

Withholding information in order to preserve one’s power is a major issue in transparency and accountability in governance. Lack of access to information is, for the most part, due to inefficiency such as complaints of some public school teachers in far-flung areas that it takes a month to download a DepEd memorandum. But sometimes the dearth of information stems from even more questionable motives.

“One very relevant [example] here in the Cordilleras was the Organic Act for Cordillera Autonomy referendum before,” Delima said.

“The issue then was access to the truth of what the autonomy was all about…and how it would benefit [the people]. It did not really trickle down to the communities. So when the time came to vote whether or not to approve the Organic Act, it was rejected by the people because they were not given

know the harmful effects of imported, inorganic fertilizers and insecticides on their health and the environment, they might adopt more sustainable agricultural practices. If they know and understand the dynamics of climate change, they might come up with smarter production practices. If research results were disseminated in understandable language, farmers might adopt these in their production systems. Farmers definitely need new kinds of knowledge to deal with new situations and mutations of power.

When weather information is accurate and released at the right time, we save precious time and money. When suspension of classes is announced on time, we could avoid exposing our children to possible danger.

If we know how to use and manage information, we could save the lives of the tourists, and we could save ourselves from embarrassment as in the case of what happened on August 23, 2010.

If the citizens know and understand the many laws governing them, only then can we be intolerant of ignorance.

enough information about what the Organic Act was all about.” A telling sign that something other than mere inefficiency was behind the lack of information: only the slogans of those opposing the Act made it to the public. “There really is hidden interest,” Delima said.

Braid said that it would be difficult to break this mindset that information must be hoarded by those in power. This is due to a perception that information is like any other resource—that “when you divide the pie, you lessen the value of the pie. Information is a different kind of pie. The more you share it, the more it multiplies. It does not diminish. In fact, the more you share it, its value increases. Information is not zero-sum.”

On the way there The country has a long way to go before it achieves information-literacy. Proper education is the key. “The general pattern is that as you acquire more education, you tend to be more open [to information], because it also gives you more exposure,” Torres said. “Education, experience and exposure are necessary to make us more open and more proactive in seeking information.”

How do you educate the majority of our population who are deprived of access to information?

For Delima, it is a matter of investing heavily in our educational structure, especially the teachers. “[This way], the teachers will be able to go and meet with the community itself to educate not only the children but the parents as well. Otherwise, the cycle will just continue. It’s all a matter of political will.”

It is also critical that information providers understand and genuinely serve the needs of the endusers of the information. Part of this is understanding that people accept, process and use information FILIPINO CULTURE, p. 15

"An effective and efficient public information system should help spur development (even if only in better incomes for people) in the Philippines. When the citizens are given timely and relevant information, they should be able to make intelligent decisions in their daily lives."

— Fong Sadly, our lawmakers use the language of ordinary people only when they want their votes. If business transactions and procedures were couched in a language

that people truly understand, we would have more entrepreneurs.

If everybody is properly informed about and able to understand the differences in cultures of the big and small ethno-linguistic groups in the country, we could be more tolerant of each other.

But our public information system is dominated by the commercial media whose profit motives are repeated in the guise of public service. It is true that the language of most popular media such as radio, television and the tabloids are now more audiencefriendly, but their contents are just replete with showbiz gossip. I am not sure how gossip can spur national development. Also, there was a time when primetime news was delivered as a matter of fact. Now our news presenters must also sing and dance.

Now no information seems to be important enough. Yet government is dependent on the commercial media to inform the public.

I propose that all government offices (especially public school libraries) open their doors as public information and resource centers.

FORUM May-June 2011 13

Theorizing Good Governance Communication

By Benjamina Paula Gonzalez-Flor

F

or good governance to develop and prosper, there should be a rethinking of the way transactions are conducted. It would be good to be transparent, particularly when financial matters are involved.

However, there should be clear guidelines on what, how, why these operations should be made public.

Indeed, transparency and accountability are requisites for good governance communication.

Clearly, access to public information requires good governance communication. People’s participation at different levels is indeed the most sought-after effect of public governance communication. In the education sector, Research and Development Corporation (RAND) researchers Berends et al.

(2002) described how governance communication at the district level was employed to resolve conflict: Principals and teachers were encouraged to talk with each other within and across schools in an effort to improve collaboration and communication. The district created a “Parent-Community Partnership Network” in the hope of increasing parent and community involvement in the schools.

Flor and Flor (2007) took the concept of governance communication further by developing a typology that distinguishes between and defines the features of corporate governance communication and public governance communication.

Typology of Governance Communication Flor and Flor differentiated corporate and public governance communication as follows: Goals. The goals of corporate governance communication are: corporate growth, increased profits and increased shareholder value. The goals

of public governance communication at the national level are increased efficiency in the delivery of basic services and eradication of systemic corruption. At the local level, the goals are increased effectiveness of government and increased demand for good governance. At the community level, the goals of public governance communication are: ensuring community development (or community survival in extreme cases), the provision for basic services and poverty alleviation.

Primary stakeholders. The primary stakeholders of corporate governance communication are management, employees, investors and clients or consumers. With regard to public governance communication at the national level, the stakeholders are the legislature, the executive branch and the general public. Local level stakeholders are provincial, district and municipal governments as well as civil society. Community level stakeholders are made up of village development councils and committees, non-government organizations, community organizations and the communities.

Core values. The core values of corporate governance communication are: management efficiency, employee performance, investor confidence and customer satisfaction. Public governance communication, however, value: public trust and representation at the national level, public service and equity at the local level, social capital formation and community participation at the community level, and transparency at all levels.

Strategic thrusts. Corporate communication, products/services promotion and public relations form the strategic thrusts of corporate governance communication. On the other hand, public governance

communication has the following strategic thrusts: policy provision, public awareness, national security at the national level; program implementation, public disclosure, and peace and order at the local level; and food security, community safety, education and health services at the community level.

Media and methods. The channels and methods available to corporate governance communication are advertising, mass media and new media such as the Internet, short messaging system (SMS) or texting via mobile phones, and multimedia presentations. Public governance communication likewise makes use of new media and advocacy methods at the national and local levels. However, public governance is most likely to tap national media or its network of line agencies at the national level and local media or public forums at the local level. On the other hand, the channels and methods in community governance communication are: interpersonal communication, community media/ forums, indigenous/ folk media and social mobilization.

Messages. Corporate governance communication directed at external stakeholders is concerned with products and services developed and marketed by the corporation. For its internal stakeholders, i.e., management, employees and stockholders, corporate messages range from quarterly profits and financial reports to corporate policies. On the other hand, public governance messages at the national and local levels focus on public policy, programs, guidelines and procedures. At the community level, governance communication is concerned with community education, community cohesion and community action.

The following matrix provides a typology of governance communication. (See Table 1.)

Table 1. Typology of Governance Communication (Flor and Flor, 2007)

Type/Elements

Corporate Governance Communication

Public Governance Communication National Level

Local Level

Community Level

Ensure community Increased effectiveness of development (survival in local governments. extreme cases) Increased demand for good Provision of basic services governance Poverty alleviation

Goals

Corporate growth Increased profits Increased shareholder value

Increased efficiency in the delivery of basic services Reduced corruption

Primary stakeholders

Management Employees Investors Clients or consumers

Legislature National government Basic sectors General public

Provincial, district and municipal governments Civil society (academe, media, religious)

Sub-municipal government NGOs Community Organizations Communities

Management efficiency Employee performance Investor confidence Customer satisfaction

Public trust Transparency Representation

Public service Transparency Equity

Social capital formation Transparency Community participation

Corporate communication Product/services promotion Public relations

Policy provision Public awareness National security

Program implementation Disclosure Peace and Order

Food security Education & Health services Community safety

Advertising Mass media New media

National media New media Line agencies Advocacy

Core values

Strategic thrusts

Media and methods

Messages

Products and Services Profits Corporate Policy

Interpersonal Local media communication New media Community media/forums Dialogue/ Public forums Indigenous media Advocacy Social mobilization

Public Policy, Programs, Procedures

Community education Community cohesion Community action

14

FORUM May-June 2011

TRUTHFULNESS, from p. 16 provide face-to-face interaction. We bridge time and distance through these virtual conversations.

What has been remarkable as well is that virtual discussions have been democratized, at least among those with access to the Internet. There is no central gatekeeper or center of the discussion, so to speak, but rather many conversations are going on at the same time, about almost any topic.

We are witnessing among those who are participating in this technological upheaval a crossfertilization of ideas across academic disciplines, cultures and identities. A definite shift in power relations in terms of communication and interaction arises as more young people engage in constant interaction in virtual reality. We do not know if these exchanges translate to the generation of information and knowledge that can lead to meaningful social change. It is like asking if people’s involvement in social networking makes them more sociable.

But the opportunities are there to weave a shared, communicative and cosmopolitan language that cuts across time and space, background and education, cultures and experience. This in itself is already revolutionary.

Of course it could be asked, what ‘social change’ are we talking about? There is change going on at the community and social levels, whether we acknowledge it or not, and whether or not the effects and consequences are very discernible. For example, our overseas Filipino workers’ communicating to their children their experience working and living abroad already enlarges the horizon for both. There is change going on in people’s minds through interactions that are being carried out. We need to be able to imagine and understand what the other is saying for communication to proceed. These interactions can generate a more cosmopolitan and global way of thinking and understanding.

With so much information available, and constant cultural and political action generated by information, we are not certain if we are being deceived or manipulated. We are mainly trusting and even perhaps naive that the information generated and the exchanges we participate in are accurate and trustworthy; and our interlocutors, sincere and credible.

We might need to look deeper into some moral dilemmas we may be confronted with. Do we have a sense of the value of truth? What process do we use to find out if something is true? These issues are vast and complex but they need to be confronted.

Perhaps it might help to put this in further context. We can be misled because the news can be manipulated. For example, some have lambasted Fox News in the US for knowingly fomenting distorted news. 2 Fox News gives news a spin so that the audience is conditioned to distrust or mistrust the American federal government. Its main agenda, which also happens to be the Republican agenda, is to argue for further deregulation and lower taxes for the very wealthy, further eroding the capacity of the US federal government to deliver basic services like education and health. Fox News has an ideological agenda and uses its media outlets for its agenda. The supposedly grassroots movements Tea Partiers are being manipulated to believe that less government is truly in their interest. This is deceptive because in fact the most heavily subsidized states are under Republican control, contrary to what the Republicans publicly avow.

Another form of manipulation is that we could be fed only certain kinds of information.

While the information seems to be neutral, the information provided could be skewed toward certain conclusions or options. While we think we are the ones making the inferences and conclusions, we do so only on the basis of the limited information

we have.

How do we detect if we are being manipulated or deceived? There is need for investigation. Getting reliable information has a cost in terms of time, energy, opportunity, and even danger. We need to be able to pursue the truth about a given state of affairs by asking critical questions. Some people need to conduct research and sift through the mass of data to verify if a particular bit of information is reliable or not.

Why do we need the truth? The question is posed in an era when posturing, putting a spin, packaging and slanting the truth have become some of the common ways of dealing with information.

We need the truth because we do not want to delude ourselves. We want to rely on our judgments.

Reliable judgments must be based on reliable assertions. We would not have survived for so long if all the information we needed to make valid judgments were all false or unreliable. While we do make mistakes in assessments or weak judgments because we did not have adequate and reliable information, at a certain point we develop ways of ascertaining if we are not dealing with what is true.

In that sense we have to have objective facts, we have the truth as far as we know.

We cooperate more with those we trust. The latter is something we hold sacred. To those with whom we have a primary loyalty, we see to it that we do not lose their trust. It is the reward for being reliable in telling the truth as far as we know. What we are looking for is truthfulness. As far as the information that is provided is given with an intent to be truthful, that information is trustworthy. We are not asking that it be truth itself already, but there is truthfulness in the report. We are assured by statements like “as far as I know” or “to my knowledge” because there is the desire not to assert that I am definitely certain.

In the face of challenges brought about by this flood of information, what are the ethical issues we are being confronted with? To my mind these are: (a) trust and trustworthiness; (b) truth and truthfulness; (c) lying and deceit; (d) sincerity and accuracy; (e) the generation of new knowledge, not just information because information has to be processed and discussed for it to acquire and attain

full meaning and significance.

We are concerned not just with information but new understandings, new knowledge and new ways of perceiving the world; and, more importantly, more genuine human relationships through truthful exchanges, especially the ones resulting from rational discussion. The possibility exists for a generally more enlightened and rational manner of dealing with and solving human problems and concerns because we have knowledge at hand.

Truthfulness is an impulse. It is a way of responding to the need to get it right, to be true to a sense of describing something correctly. If this sense is not strong, one gives in to a looseness or lack of precision in one’s ways of perceiving, thinking and using language; it is also possible to give in to laziness of expression.

Why must we be truthful? We need to be truthful to ourselves so that we do not make incorrect or false judgments. To lie is to deceive and delude even ourselves, and the deluded person makes wrong assessments and judgments. One must be truthful to others so that one becomes trustworthy and reliable.

If one is known to be deceitful and a liar, others will not have confidence in what he or she says. In contrast, reliability and robustness of information leads to better decisions. More importantly, truthfulness generates trust in the whole society and builds more reliable relationships.

The motivation to truthfulness relies on our wanting to be true to ourselves, not wanting to deceive ourselves. We have to have a sense of the value of truth. Trust is our currency. To the extent that others are assured that what we will say is true as far as we know, they have trust in what we will present and assert.

Through the access that we are allowed through the information we have, and the various communication technologies available to us today, we are being provided (again) a panopticon (an all-seeing eye) with which to view the world. For this panopticon to be a real picture and not a delusive or deceptive one, the information we have must be accurate and, more importantly, not an ‘ideological’ picture, that conforms to some preconceptions and vested interests.

We need to be provided a sense of reality, the information composing a picture that is realistic and true, and only consequently perhaps a congenial picture that we create of ourselves as well as humanity.

To be able to do this, we must be people who use methods of inquiry that are truthacquiring. We have daily experience in discussions among ourselves where we raise questions to each other about the validity and bases for our arguments and points of view. This is the “generic” experience that becomes the basis for discussions and conversations on the Internet and virtual reality. We also have basic experience regarding veridical situations and truthful encounters. The moves that we follow in conversations on the Internet, for example, follow the exchanges of ideas that we have in ordinary conversations. Our methods of inquiry in virtual reality follow what we do in ordinary life.

We should be people who actually want to find out the truth. Inquiry will encounter obstacles because, as Bernard Williams says, the world is resistant to be discovered, interpreted and unravelled. 3 There are two kinds of resistance he mentioned, which are the resistance to being changed and the resistance to being discovered.

How does the virtue of truth affect social institutions? The old virtues that we thought were diminished or devalued by our political culture must be brought back. We raise ourselves up when we return to truth-telling in order to have the courage to stand by what is true and to feel fear when we are lying or deceitful. Philippine political institutions TRUTHFULNESS, p. 15

FORUM May-June 2011 15 FILIPINO CULTURE, from p. 12 in many different ways. According to Torres, this is comparable to the ways people handle money, another important resource. “In communication, a cardinal rule is to ‘know your audience’ before you initiate any communication activity. We need to give a face to our audience or users of information, so that we are certain that we are providing them relevant information. It is not enough that the public be given access to information; we must be sure that we are giving them the right information they need.”

Unlike the dominant mass media, which must cater to the general public, community media—community radio and newspapers—are channels of information that are more immediate, more accessible, more appropriate and thus more commonly used by people in remote communities.

There is a need then to develop community media and to utilize them to deliver precisely the information these far-flung communities need, packaged in a language these communities can understand.

Delima and Fong stressed the need for government information officers to use the language of their audiences when delivering information, including official ordinances, announcements and memoranda. “The municipals must take the initiative to translate these documents,” Delima said. “[Just by printing documents in a language the people do not understand], you already limit their access to the information. The contents of those documents then get lost because they are in a language the people can’t access.” In relation to this, it is recommended that the information needed by the communities be coursed through the community media instead of the

national mass media, to make sure that it reaches the arget audience.

Delima also recommended preserving and strengthening the different communities’ traditional modes of information access, processing and transmission, instead of relying on modes of information transmission that are alien to the culture and beliefs of these communities. More research is needed to uncover more of these traditional structures and practices that could be used to improve information access and processing for these communities, something that UP would be able to do.

“Building an information-literate society is an important prerequisite in building communities and people who are entrepreneurial, independent, selfmanaging, and aware of their culture and history,” Braid noted in her column article. “We have truly achieved information literacy when we are not threatened by sharing information and knowledge, when we are confident in collaborating and cooperating with our neighbors, [and] when we know who we are and what we are capable of achieving.”

------------------------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph.

COMPARING FREEDOM, from p. 11 While Nixon was not decided on right to information grounds but on the legitimate needs of the judiciary to secure evidence (even from the President) in order to be able to perform its functions, it does show that presidential communications are only qualifiedly privileged and may give way when public interest so requires. The difficulty with the Malacañang proposal is that it tends to foreclose future Nixon-like jurisprudential innovations on the proper balance between the right to information and presidential communications.

For instance, should the government someday adopt a policy of genocide against a segment of the Philippine citizenry the evidence of which can only be found in presidential communications, would the people be forever barred from accessing such communications?

While this might seem far-fetched, so too was the moon landing decades ago.

The American, Indian, South African and Mexican laws are silent on the matter. HB 53 takes a much similar approach and contents itself with a nod in the direction of the privilege through a generally-worded exemption for information which is “exempted by law or the Constitution.”

This gives the courts flexibility to fix the parameters of the presidential communications privilege on a case-to-case basis.

Penalties

NOTES:

1 Karl-Erik Sveiby, “What is Information?” (October 1994, updated Dec. 31, 1998), accessed May 18, 2011, http://www. sveiby.com/articles/Information.html.

2 MMRParreño, “How Comfy are We to Communicate?”, Asia Research News (January 19, 2007), accessed May 18, 2011, http://www.researchsea.com/html/article.php/aid/1266/cid/5/ research/how_comfy_are_we_to_communicate_.html.

3 “Law of primacy in persuasion,” Wikipedia, accessed May 19, 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_primacy_in_ persuasion.

HB 53 provides for imprisonment between one to six months, and administrative sanctions.

South African law provides for up to two years imprisonment, fines and recovery of costs.

Mexican law provides for administrative sanctions, without prejudice to civil or criminal liabilities. American law allows for recovery of attorney’s fees and costs, and administrative sanctions. Indian law imposes a penalty of 250 rupees per day of delay but not to exceed 25,000 rupees.

Malacañang proposes to limit penalties to administrative sanctions only. This is the same penalty found in the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (RA 6713) which also has provisions which relate to the right to information.

However, experience with RA 6713 has shown that administrative sanctions are not sufficient to change the culture of non-transparency prevailing in government.

It is therefore best to maintain HB 53’s penal provisions or adopt a version of the Indian system.

------------------------Prof. Lumba is an assistant professor at the UP College of Law. Email the author at sflumba@yahoo.com.

TRUTHFULNESS, from p. 14 have wavered and have been weakened because the virtues that are the foundations of these institutions have been betrayed. Witness what Heidi Mendoza did in the face of the Garcia plunder case and the attempt to push through the plea bargain agreement.

She belied the claim that the case was weak because in fact her solid research showed that the evidence was very strong.

People do not just want to receive information.

They also want to be able to find out the truth. What are the qualities of people who can be expected to use methods of inquiry that are truth-acquiring? They ask for proof, evidence, argumentation, justification or valid reasons. They want to scrutinize whether or not the reasons warrant the conclusions or assertions.

They want facts and proof, not just opinions or blind assertions, or worse gossip. They want to know what is true.

In this regard, the Freedom of Information Act is important. Williams recalls Machiavelli’s reminder, “the anti-tyranny argument:...governments are disposed to commit illegitimate actions which they wish to conceal, as they also want to conceal incompetent actions. It is in citizens’ interest that these be checked.”4 The main weapon against tyrants is the truth, or reliable information, because tyrants are predisposed to conceal or to deceive. Truthfulness is also crucial in the transition from authoritarian to democratic rule.

Citizens have the right to be informed about the bases for the policies of government. Public reason is enhanced when the reasons that are provided as bases for government policies are reasons that most every rational citizen can give assent to. We build public reason which those in government can refer to when they want to know what justifications can be given for certain policies. Public reason is built through the continuing discourse, exchange of justifications and learning through historical experience.

When information is free, available and truthful, we are better able to make appropriate judgments, including whether or not existing governments fulfill their mandate to govern for the benefit of the people.

There is a moral wellspring from which people draw their assessments. The latter can be made finer and more robust when freedom of expression allows citizens to share their judgments, the reasons for these judgments and consequently their thinking on the social issues. Collective thinking, as the articulation of public reason, translates into mass political actions should the need arise. This collective thinking further galvanizes people’s sentiments and becomes the further basis for their bonds of fellow-citizenship.

There has to be a shared enterprise to discover and find the truth. And when these are institutionalized in public reason, the truth becomes the foundation of social institutions. What are the consequences and implications of these ideas on our academic practice?

We must insist on standards for valid and reliable information, for free and available information.

This information is a prerequisite to critical inquiry.

We must encourage critical and productive social exchanges to arrive at further understanding and robust knowledge. And the atmosphere of truthfulness, having a sense of the value of truth, must be strengthened.

------------------------*Editor’s Note: This essay is an edited version of the author’s paper delivered at the Gabriel A. Bernardo Lecture Series last March 14 at the UP School of Library and Information Studies.

Dr. Zosimo Lee is a professor of philosophy at the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UP Diliman. Email the author at zosimolee@gmail.com.

NOTES:

1 Jeffry D. Sachs, “The Arab World’s Agents of Change,” New York Times, March 28, 2011.

2 http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/transcript/georgesoros-smears-fox-new, accessed April 2, 2011. This transcript is interpreted from the perspective of Fox News.

3 Bernard Williams, Truth and Truthfulness (Princeton University Press, 2002).

4 Williams, ibid. p. 207.

16

FORUM May-June 2011

Truthfulness and the Information Revolution*

By Zosimo E. Lee

B

ecause so much information is being transmitted and communicated around the world today and at such a fast speed, we can sometimes be overwhelmed by the information that we have access to. The abundance of information and its speed of dissemination can also dramatically influence social, cultural, economic and political processes and events.

The events in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, China and Afghanistan are practically happening before our eyes thanks to both the old and the new media.

We have never imagined such protests occurring and being fueled by the exchanges on the Internet, particularly through Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the subsequent nuclear reactor events at Fukushima Daiichi were brought to our households as they

were happening.

We have seen how WikiLeaks disseminated classified materials, giving us a view of how governments relate with one another through cables and other documents. Julian Assange claims that the Wikileaks revelations may have partly fueled the Middle Eastern revolts. We saw on TV how the Chilean miners survived for 45 days and were rescued so that we could share in the glory of their liberation.

We can even be engaged in football matches in the English Premier League, halfway across the globe, with fans supporting the Manchester United and the other teams. Before that, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was experienced by many Filipinos even more passionately at times than our own basketball leagues. And who could forget the win of the Philippine Azkals over the reigning champion Vietnam in the Asian Football League?

These events became accessible to us as any other global citizen today because of television and the Internet. We were never as plugged into global events at any point in human history as now. We are provided a panoptical view of everything happening around the world. An ‘all-seeing eye’ is available to us through our computers and television. We are afforded a ‘sense of the world,’ ‘a sense of the world of facts and events.’

But just because we have more information available to us—and for us in the university this also means books, and journals and all the other resources available to us like CDs, databases and resource networks—does not mean that we have better understanding and greater knowledge.

There is even a proposal in the US for a National Digital Library that will bring together all the digital data already available. But as many of us know, information per se does not automatically

make sense; we still have to be able to process this information, as well as understand its context and significance. And for that information to make sense to us, we have to have inquiry questions that will make that information meaningful.

With the pervasiveness of so much unprocessed and undigested information, we worry how this plethora of information influences our thinking on certain matters. Some of us have proven ourselves to be so gullible with the threat of nuclear contamination from Japan. Mercury Drug sold a lot of Betadine because of the scare. Some people did not question or seek to verify whether the information they got was reliable.

There are definite challenges in how this information revolution will be waged. This information revolution should be under human control and for human purposes.

With the advent of computers and the Internet, particularly the social media networks, the so-called netizens have been born. They are mostly young people who have grown up as children and teens with the Internet. They are the most computer-savvy compared to their elders who might sometimes be technophobes. And these netizens are the ones who are most at home in this Information Revolution.

The Egyptian protest movement, for example, was mainly led by young professionals in their 20s and 30s who used the vast potential of instant messaging and social networking.1 We could say that e-groups on the Internet, like those provided by Yahoo! and Google, function like discussion groups in providing opportunities for comments and sharing of insights. From pieces of information some interpretations and meaningful interactions take place, and Skype and FaceTime TRUTHFULNESS, p. 14 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

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