DOF gag order
No gag order
In a dialogue with reporters after a July 26 press conference, Purisima denied that he meant to gag Finance officials.
“It’s not a gag order,” he said.
He said the memo was issued merely to make sure that the DOF official being interviewed by the press knows what he or she is talking about.
He also said the order was necessary so that Finance officials who talk to the press do not discuss policy matters outside their areas.
“You have to have some discipline,” he said, referring to officials who discuss with Finance reporters issues outside their expertise.
However, what Purisima failed to note was that the discussions on the PPP including its contributions to the economy are not outside the scope of the Finance department.
In fact, in November 2010, it was Purisima himself, together with other government economic managers, who led the launch of the PPP program in a two-day conference at the posh Marriot Hotel in Pasay.
At the time, Purisima hailed the event as a success, saying that a lot of investors had already expressed interest in the various projects in the pipeline.
“We’re very excited. There has been a lot of firm interest among investors,” Purisima said then.
In fact, he also announced that year that the PPP Program can be implemented in about a year’s time or within 2011.
However, until today, only one of the 10 originally proposed projects have been bid out. The rest are still awaiting approval.
The sole PPP project awarded was the P1.956-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway Road Project. This was awarded to the Ayala Corporation.
The FOI bill
Purisima’s memorandum order comes at a time when the Aquino administration has been criticized for its failure to prioritize the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill.
President Benigno Aquino III, who delivered his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23, was widely criticized for not even mentioning the bill.
It cannot be denied that as head of the government’s economic team, Purisima reflects the Aquino administration’s attitude to media access to information and to dealing with the press in general.
On July 26, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines chairman Nestor Burgos Jr. said that without the passage of the measure, the Aquino administration’s supposed advocacy for transparency and accountability would not be comprehensive and sufficient.
The bill seeks to allow citizens to access to information including government documents upon formal request.
President Aquino himself promised to press for the enactment of the FOI bill, saying that this was a strategic pillar of his “daang matuwid” platform of good governance and accountability.
But Purisima’s policy is clearly the opposite of transparency and accountability.
Indeed, the irony is stark and telling. If the chief economic manager’s move is an indication of what’s in store for the press under this administration, it’s likely that there won’t be an FOI Law during its watch.
Iris C. Gonzales has been covering public finance for The Philippine Star since 2008. She was awarded Finance Reporter of the Year for 2010 by the Economic Journalists Association. She also writes about development of the Philippines on her blog, www.irisgonzales.blogspot.com
Leave a Reply