SC hailed for recordings of oral arguments on cyber law

The Supreme Court building in Manila. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Thursday lauded the Supreme Court for making recordings of the recent oral arguments on the cyber law available online.

Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tanada III said that the effort the high tribunal took to open its doors to the public by posting the oral arguments on its website was “a revolutionary step in showing the people our sincere desire for transparency in government.”

He lauded the high court and its Public Information Office led by lawyer Theodore Te “for making the oral arguments on the [Anti-c]ybercrime Law available for the public to download online.”

“Actions like this further strengthen the need for the Freedom of Information Law since we clearly need concrete and institutionalized mechanisms for creating a government that is open and honest in all its processes,” said Tanada, the principal author of the FOI Bill in the House of Representatives.

The said bill is still pending at the lower chamber of Congress and Tanada seeks to finally be able to introduce it and have it debated on once they resume session on January 21.

“The FOI Law will ensure that good practices such as this will be replicated in different offices and in different forms so that public officials and offices can truly and completely be accountable to the Filipino people,” he said.