Press Release
May 29, 2014

Grace Poe to Makati Bizmen: "FOI needs your active
participation to succeed"

Speaking before the General Membership Meeting of the Makati Business Club (MBC), Sen. Grace Poe stressed the importance of private sector support and cooperation towards the successful implementation of the Freedom of Information (FOI) law.

"A strong FOI is paramount if we want to stamp out corruption. But a strong FOI is only half the story. Laws are but tools - and tools are just as good as the people using them. So even if Congress manages to pass a strong FOI law, the active participation and cooperation of the private sector is still vital towards the successful implementation of the law," Poe said in her speech.

The senator added that FOI will make government less "opaque," allowing investors better access to data and thus enabling them to make sound business decisions. Poe likewise echoed a NEDA report which described Freedom of Information as a key "enabler" of economic growth. "Better access to information will have the effect of reducing uncertainties in the market. FOI is therefore expected to result in higher investments and more robust economic growth," she said.

Aside from the FOI bill, Senator Poe also briefed businessmen about her other priority measures, such as the School Feeding Program (Senate Bill No. 79 "Sustansiya sa Batang Pilipino Act"), Film Tourism Act (SB No. 78), and Corporate Farming Act (SB No. 2089). She also filed a bill (SB No. 1282) which seeks to entice more Filipino youth to become farmers by "incentivizing" farming as a profession through scholarship grants, easy access to credit, institutional support and other inducements.

Poe spoke on the need to address the alarming rate of child malnutrition in the Philippines. "Government needs to provide both long-term and short-term solutions to the problem of child malnutrition. The easy, immediate solution is a massive school-feeding program, but over the long term we must really find ways to manage the two main causes of child malnutrition, namely food inflation and under-employment, if we are really serious about eradicating hunger in the Philippines. Our future depends on it." Poe also is pushing "film tourism" as a viable way to create more job opportunities for Filipinos, especially those living outside the cities.

She explained that her bills pushing for a school-based feeding program, corporate farming and "incentivizing" farming are all designed to secure food security and manage food inflation in the Philippines, while her other bills such as the FOI and Film Tourism Act are meant to ensure good governance and bring about better economic opportunities for the Filipino people.

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