FOI Bill passage remains pending

Is this the last chance for the FOI bill or will it continue to prevail? Photo courtesy of: philstar.com.

MANILA, Philippines—Is still there hope for the enactment of the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI)?

House Bill 6766 or known as Freedom of Information Act is an act that enables a Filipino citizen the right to access information on matters of public concern. The bill mandates that government agencies are required to upload on its websites records of annual budget, finance, procurement, and construction contracts.

The right to information was first included in the 1973 Constitution and was expanded in the 1987 constitution, Article III Section 7.

According to the Institute for Freedom of Information website, the law would prevent the government from hiding crucial information from the public. It will be a highly effective tool in exposing corruption and allowing to campaign preventive abuse of power.

It is still at the legislative process and is pending approval on first reading before being examined by the committee on public information.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima urged for the adoption of an FOI law, citing it was the most effective method to stop corruption.

“Notwithstanding the continued difficulties in making effective FOI legislation, I believe most, if not all the people in this room, agree with me that FOI is the most effective modality to prevent corruption,” De Lima said in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Re-elected Ifugao Rep. Teddy Brawner Baguilat, a member of the ruling liberal party, said he would reintroduce and reinforce the passage of the bill in the incoming 16th congress, last May 26.

The FOI bill seeks to make it easier for people and the media to access public documents, especially those related to bidding of government projects as well as expenditures. This way, there will be greater transparency in government affairs and the way taxpayers’ money is spent,” Baguilat said in an interview with the Philippine Star.

Baguilat added the enactment of this bill should be a part of the administration’s good governance legacy.

The same protégé is expressed by neophyte elect Senator Grace Poe, saying that the bill would be a parallel move to the administration’s transparency and anti-corruption campaign.

“How will we know what the government is actually doing if we don’t have complete access of documentation? So we welcome all versions that are filed,” Poe said in ABS-CBN News.

New Journey

Reelected senators Francis Escudero and Alan Peter Cayetano have filed their own versions of the transparency measures that didn’t make through during the 14th and 15th congress.

Their recent versions were among the first measures to be filed in the 16th congress.

“Transparency in all government transactions empowers the people to correctly demand accountability for the government,” Escudero said in his explanatory note on Senate Bill No. 18 in an article on the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

There is a need to concretize President Aquino’s anticorruption and transparency initiatives and the passage of this bill will strengthen democracy, Cayetano said in his own explanatory note in Senate Bill No. 90.

The Senate in the 15th congress carried a version of the FOI Bill – the People’s Ownership of Government Information Law, but the House declined the information committee of Samar Representative Ben Evardone.

Related articles

• Last Chance for the FOI Bill (philstar.com)
• Fate of FOI still uncertain (leustnouvelles.wordpress.com)
• Senate and civil groups to give a shot on FOI bill (onjourn1314.wordpress.com)
• Another chance for FOI Bill comes with new Congress (therationalanthem.wordpress.com)
• FOI bill’s 16th Congress battle begins (rappler.com)
• Robredo backs FOI (thejournalismpost.com)