Naniniwala si Senator Grace Poe na hindi pa rin sasapat ang isang Executive Order (EO) sa pagpapatupad ng Freedom of Information (FOI) dahil hindi nito masasaklaw ang lahat ng ahensiya ng gobyerno.
Ayon kay Poe, suportado niya ang EO pero mas mainam at dapat na isang pinagtibay na batas ang magpatupad nito dahil may kaakibat itong parusa, kumpara sa isang EO na maaaring balewalain ng susunod na administrasyon.
Ito ay kasunod ng pahayag ng kampo ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na binabalangkas na nila ang EO para sa FOI.
“While I fully support the immediate issuance of an executive order (EO) to implement Freedom of Information for our people, the passage of a statute, which I will pursue, is still needed in order to cover all the other branches of government and to provide appropriate penal sanctions for non-compliance by public servants which a mere EO may not provide,” paliwanag ni Poe.
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“A law would provide the permanency that the public's right to information should have and will not be dependent on the whims of succeeding chief executives who may not be as zealous about transparency in governance.”
Umaasa rin si Poe na magiging malinaw at klaro ang gagawing EO para hindi ito maabuso ng sinuman.
Aniya, dapat din na maging malinaw ang mga teknikal na aspeto ng gagawing EO.
“I hope that the parameters of privacy under applicable circumstances and the right of the public to know should be clearly defined under the EO so that abuses will be prevented on both sides. In this connection, as with the efforts to eliminate red tape, the power of information technology should also be harnessed for the easy access of information on the part of the public,” dagdag pa ni Poe. (Leonel Abasola)
