To keep gov’t from deceiving people

In his Sept. 7 “Analysis,” columnist Amando Doronila lambasted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as one “belong(ing) to the category of whistle-blowers, a breed of social creatures despised for ratting on colleagues engaged in the same racket … so that they end up with their heads broken with a baseball bat, the way the Mafia deals with squealers.”

This is a rather unusual reaction from a journalist who is himself known for his biting criticism of government policies and actions. It is an article of faith among journalists that transparency is a sine qua non for good governance. That is the reason why the journalists in the Philippines are pressuring government to enact the Freedom of Information bill.

Doronila’s diatribe is dismaying, considering that our government is currently pursuing a vigorous drive against corruption. “Whistle-blowers” are crucial to the successful prosecution of grafters. The public knows that whistle-blowers are not all Mafia types, many are civic-spirited individuals risking life and career for the public good.

Assange is in fact far from being Mafia. He is a respected Australian publisher and journalist who, as editor of WikiLeaks, has launched a global crusade for open government and a free press. He has exposed state-instigated extrajudicial killings, torture and other human rights violations, US military abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan, and international corruption. Doronila himself admits that a WikiLeaks exposé triggered the Tunisian revolution that led to the toppling of a dictator.

Among the partners of WikiLeaks in publishing its exposés are prestigious publications like the New York Times, the British Guardian, De Spiegel (Germany) and El Pais of Madrid. The Inquirer has also consistently published WikiLeaks’ exposés pertaining to our country. These respected publications would not have published WikiLeaks’ releases if they did not think the exposés serve the public interest.

One of the WikiLeaks’ releases pertaining to the Philippines was a US Embassy cable revealing that then US Ambassador Kristie Kenny had interceded on behalf of the US pharmaceutical interests in the crafting of the Cheaper Medicines bill by our Congress. One may ask, is it ethical and proper for the United States to interfere directly in the enactment of legislation affecting the welfare of Filipino citizens? Was public welfare sacrificed in favor of foreign commercial interests?

In the precedent-setting case of the Pentagon Papers, the US Supreme Court upheld the right of the press to publish classified information pertaining to the conduct of the Vietnam war. The majority opinion, written by Justice Black, declared: “Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell.”

Doronila would do well to remember this ruling.

—MANUEL F. ALMARIO,

spokesman, Movement for Truth in History,

mfalmario@yahoo.com