Filipinos:Pray for Transparency

Indeed, transparency is what we,Filipinos, need to avoid uncertainties in any way. We have everything in our country--corruption, coup d' etat, martial law...what else could we ask for?! Transparency from our leaders is what we need, I need. Let’s take for example the case involving cabinet members and other government officials who are accused of using government funds for their own benefit—through infomercials.

I, myself questioned their credibility -- they are using our money!!! this is where my taxes go, infomercials for their candidacy!!!

That was what I thought, and I knew I was wrong. Since I have known a certain organization who revealed themselves in the public, claiming to fund a certain agency for the purpose of info dissemination, I was ashamed of my allegations but somehow, I felt relieved and gladly embraced the fact that not all of them think of their own benefit.

In the interest of transparency, those paying for the infomercials of government officials should really identify themselves. They should follow the lead of groups like “Friends of Ronnie” (FOR), an association comprising supporters of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronnie Puno, who have come out—in the interest of transparency—to say that they were the ones who produced the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) infomercials and paid for their TV placements.

FOR members said they wanted to show the programs of the DILG, through the Philippine National Police (PNP), in establishing Women and Children Protection Desks in every police station, and in hiring at least 3,000 new policemen and policewomen each year. During their August launching, FOR officers and members said in a press statement that they support Secretary Puno’s advocacy in “empowering local government units and developing a new breed of law enforcers and public safety officers in the DILG”.

As pointed out in their press statement, FOR members merely asked Secretary Puno to appear in the series of infomercials as DILG secretary.

Neither FOR nor Puno is guilty of using government funds and of premature campaigning through the DILG’s series of infomercials highlighting the department’s accomplishments, for the FOR members used their own money to pay for the TV ads.

Legal eagles said that Secretary Puno cannot be held liable for violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or Republic Act 3019, or for disregarding the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials, which prohibits public officials from accepting gifts, because the infomercials cannot be considered as gifts given by FOR to the DILG secretary.

The TV ads could not be classified as a “gift” given to Puno because the secretary did not benefit from the TV ads. In fact, the rank-and-file of the PNP are the ones benefitting from the infomercial because of the strong positive image of policemen and policewomen that are being projected in the ads. Even the public are benefitting from the ads because they are, through the infomercials, being made aware of the PNP services that they now enjoy or can avail of.

Let us make this clear, DILG’s infomercials are not an “election campaign” or “partisan political activity”. They inform the public of the department’s programs and achievements. They do not promote the election or defeat of a candidate because the contents of the TV infomercials do not deal with the 2010 elections.

Secretary Puno, in addition, is not a “candidate.” Under Section 79(a), a candidate is the one who “has filed a certificate of candidacy to an elective public office.”