Puerto Rico governor signs bill that critics say will restrict access to public information
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico Governor Jennifer González On Sunday, he signed a controversial bill that critics say is a blow to democracy and will make it even more difficult to access public information. US region has long been known for its lack of transparency in government.
González said the bill amends an existing law to provide more defined rules, avoid confusion and reduce a “significant number of lawsuits.” He also said there are penalties for those who do not comply.
More than a dozen journalism organizations and civil rights groups quickly rejected the bill, stating that public hearings were held for only one day.
“It is unthinkable that Puerto Rico’s leaders would go out of their way to undermine their constituents’ access to information and diminish the quality of press freedom on the island,” said Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders of North America.
With the new law, government agencies now have 20 business days instead of 10 to turn over documents that are less than 300 pages or created less than three years ago.
Agencies also now have up to a month to release documents that are more than 300 pages or more than three years old, and a 20-day extension has also been approved.
“By enacting this measure despite widespread opposition, the Governor makes clear that he is not interested in government transparency,” the ACLU of Puerto Rico said. “(The law) is in no one’s interest except any public official who seeks to obstruct or obstruct the public from receiving information they have a right to see.”
Earlier this month, a coalition of journalism organizations and civil society groups sent a letter to the governor asking him to veto the bill, calling it “a dangerous violation of the public’s right to information.”
The bill would not only double the amount of time government agencies have to release requested information, but would also “allow the government to classify information as confidential without judicial review, eliminating personal privacy protections for those requesting information,” the letter said.
According to the letter, the bill also “makes data analysis more difficult by eliminating the government’s previous obligation to provide information in the required format under the 2019 law…(and) also allows the government to deny valid requests because the information is spread across multiple documents or institutions.”
Public information has long been difficult to obtain in Puerto Rico, often forcing local media organizations that can afford it to go to court, even though the government passed a law in 2019 allowing access to public information held by government agencies.
The 2019 law stated that in Puerto Rico, “citizens and the press are subject to discretionary court processes that are costly and can take months to request public information.” “Although the right to access information is included in the Constitution, the lack of a procedural mechanism to implement it leads to frequent violations.”
The 2019 law also stated that “many governments have promised transparency but never committed to it. This is one of the factors contributing to the erosion of public trust in the government, which has turned into a complex, bureaucratic and opaque structure in the decision-making process.”
A few years ago, a local newspaper made a habit of publishing public information requests and how long it took to receive a response from government agencies.
The Puerto Rican Senate approved the bill in mid-October with a vote of 18 in favor and 9 against, and no public hearings were held. The House passed the law in November with a vote of 29 in favor and 24 against, after just one day of hearings.
