Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is very dangerous if we can't find its missing twin sister called Privacy Act.

FOIA allows for the full or partial disclosure of information and documents in government. The Act defines government records subject to disclosure, clarifies the mandatory procedures on disclosure, and enumerates some exemptions.


In the US Government, they have annual Seminar on FOIA and Privacy Act. These two acts must are twin laws that must always be applied together. If it is a car, FOIA is the accelerator and Privacy Act is a brake.

Privacy Act protects personal data of individual citizens like address, family members, contact numbers, medical records, employment record, criminal record, credit record, tax payment record, etc that are stored in government database. Under the Privacy Act, personal information can only be released with the consent of the individual or for purposes of government law enforcement investigation.

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TRIVIA QUESTION: Sir John, how many official US Government Training-with-Exam have you attended and passed about the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act?

ANSWER: A total of Seven. Annually. From 2002-2009.

Top 5 Avenues of Govt Corruption

From my macro-perspective, the top five avenues of government corruption are (1) red tape in licensing and permits, (2) conflict of interest and rigging of bids in procurement, (3) underpricing in sale of government assets and privatization, (4) conspiracy with evaders of taxes, duties, fines, and penalties, and (5) profit-cutting in infrastructure projects.

Especially in the local level, when public position becomes a family businesses that is passed on from old generation to the new within the same family, the corrupt allies will also just be transferred from one generation to the next. This is one of the reasons why corruption survives through time.

PNP Should Handle ROTC, not AFP

Ang recommendation ko, PNP na ang hahawak ng ROTC at hindi AFP. Ayoko yug ROTC na puro formation at martsa lang ng AFP na walang kwenta.

Turuan ang mga youth sa mga sumusunod:
- Manning of anti-riot front-line
- Investigation reporting
- Blotter writing
- Community Patrolling
- Police Motorcycle Driving
- Proper way of frisking
- Proper manning of Checkpoint
- Reading of Rights of arrested individual
- Proper way of applying for and serving of search warrant
- Bomb Scare Crowd Management. etc etc...

... kasi ang kaalaman sa mga eto ay applicable eto sa buhay ng tao na siya ang dapat mangalaga at mag-protekta sa sarili niyang mga karapatang pangtao.

AFP Modernization is Excuse of Ineffectiveness

Abolish na dapat ang AFP. Sobrang tagal ng labanan sa NPA at MILF eh hindi matapos-tapos kasi sa kanila din galing ang mga bala at baril. Pulis na lang dapat lahat. Eh sobrang inferior na tayo sa Military technology, hindi na tayo maka-catch up, gagawin lang nilang dahilan yang need of modernization para ma justify ang ineffectiveness nila sa pag-sugpo ng organized crime groups. Abolish na yan, gawin na lang silang Teachers to the Barrios.

Expediting Fee is Grease Money

Tingnan mo yang Philippine Passporting proccessing centers. Pag mayaman ka, expedite ang process ng paper mo, mabilis. Pag mahirap ka, ordinary lang process ng paper mo, mabagal. Pera lang ang katapat, pinapaboran ang mga CAN-AFFORD. Ganyan ka BOBO ang gobyerno pagdating sa FAIRNESS and EQUITY.

Pantay-Pantay dapat. Parehong bayad. Parehong bilis ng production. Kung gustong bilisan, dapat walang perang katapat.

Public pricing policy is sensitive to the concept of equity. Look at it the other way around. Mabilis dapat lahat, mabilis ang STANDARD process at pantay-pantay laghat dito makikinabang sa bilis na eto. Pero Kung hindi nagmamadali ang applicant, pwede siyang mag opt na mabagal at bibigyan siya ng DISCOUNT.

Yan ang ugat ng lahat na CORRUPTION sa document issuance and licensing front-line ng gobyerno. Yang pampabilis na yan ay tinatawag yan na GREASE MONEY noong araw. Ngayon ang tawag nila sa GREASE MONEY ay EXPEDITING FEE. Sobrang Palusot ng mga Kurakot!

Noy people are saying na ang expediting fee ay para sa overtime, dahil pag overtime mabilis kesa sa regular-time. Sa opinion ko, mali ang logic na yan. Pag ginawa ba sa gabi mas mabilis pag ginawa sa araw? Anong klaseng logic yan? Isang production step-by-step process lang ang dinadaanan ng lahat na passport. Ang sabihin natin, pag magbayad ka ng grease money, lalaktawan ng aplikante yung ibang aplikante na na-unang pumila sa production process.

Anomaly in Permit to Carry Firearm

I have NEVER NEVER NEVER applied for a PTCFOR (permit to carry firearm) because I know that there is ANOMALY in the requirements. Way back four years ago, a gun store told me that I can get a PTC just by PAYING the P12,000 fee. I asked if I needed to take an exam or prove something like death threats, they said NO NEED because they will take care of everything.

I have repeated this ASKING a couple of times in the past four years in many gun stores in NCR after the Gun Shows in Megamall and even in TARLAC (the one inside the mall near Hacienda Luisita) --- they all say the same -- P12,000 ALL IN and they will take care of EVERYTHING and WORRY-FREE and NO EXAM and NO PROVING.

Imagine the timeframe, four years ago I asked and until now the system is still the same, and the anomaly is wide-spread. SHOCKING we don't know how many crazy people out there are carrying guns. I have not applied for PTC because there is ANOMALY that I cannot stomach. Why would I carry gun along with those probably crazy paranoid people?

I have created a Facebook Group called Tighter Gun-Carry Policy. There is a Discussion Topic there where I am challenging Atty. Tabujara for a debate after I heard him on radio debating with that guy from Kapatiran. I sent Tabujara a Facebook PM but he did not respond. I take it as a win by default. I think you have to LIKE or JOIN these groups to see the threads. The URL of the group is at http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=311790639600

There is also a Facebook Group called Anti Gun Aliance. The members are few but international in scope. In that page, there is a debate on gun-carry, checkpoints, police uniform tagging, limited gun and ammunition at home, requirement for license to possess firearm at home, etc etc etc, and I think I won the debate. I think you have to LIKE or JOIN these groups to see the threads. The URL is at http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=5057142814

Let me tell you this again and again and again -- my advocacy is not against licensing of firearm for household protection purposes. My advocacy is on Tighter Gun Carry Policy, which I believe it will ONLY work well with effective police checkpoints.

Witness Protection is National Security Issue

Secrecy of Witness Identity is One of My Proposed Solution to Graft and Corruption.

It is important that Government should spend in communication and advocacy on the proper way to file complaints against corruption. And in this country where taking of a human life is cheap, it is more important that Government should have a reliable Complainant-Witness Identity Protection Program.

Graft and Corruption is an issue of National Security because it makes the people distrust their government. When people distrust their government, there will be political rallies, people will not support government programs, people will not be motivated to follow the law, and people will find it unreasonable to pay correct taxes.

To eradicate graft and corruption, the identities of complainants and witnesses should be protected by classifying it SECRET under the interest of National Security.

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Related article: Torture by 'cop' caught on cam, witness afraid to come out... at http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/08/17/10/torture-cop-caught-cam

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Related Link: Website of Philippine Department of Justice, Witness Protection Program.... at http://www.doj.gov.ph/index.php?id1=4&id2=1