THE House of Representatives will soon begin the plenary debates on the Freedom of Information bill after it passed the measure at the committee level on Wednesday.
ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, chairman of the House committee on public information, expressed hope that the House leadership led by Speaker Pantallon Alvarez would give priority to passing the measure.
“We are working for the swift enactment into law of the FOI Bill considering that this is one of the priorities of the Duterte administration,” Tinio said.
“We hope that, with the support of the House leadership, we will soon be able to take up the FOI Bill in plenary.”
Malacañang on Wednesday welcomed the House’s action on the bill.
“The FOI, long overdue, is an essential component of the President’s anti-corruption drive as it promotes greater transparency, openness and accountability in governance,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said.
Tinio said the bill provides full public disclosure and citizens’ access to information.
Under the bill, full public disclosure provides that every Filipino should be able to get information on government records and transactions. The bill reiterates the Constitution’s mandate to disclose the Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth of certain officials, Tinio said.
The bill also enumerates the documents or records that government agencies must publish in their websites, such as contracts with the private sector and those that are budget-related.
“The policy of full public disclosure is not fully fleshed out in our current laws. The FOI Bill seeks to address that gap,” Tinio said.
The bill also promotes every citizen’s right to ask for and receive information from the government, subject only to a limited number of exceptions that include public disclosure of issues involving national security, foreign policy, business and trade secrets, personal privacy and ongoing criminal investigations.
The bill also sets the procedure for requesting access to information and documents.
Alvarez earlier vowed to pass the FOI bill within his term as President Rodrigo Duterte asked Congress to pass what he called the “long-overdue” FOI law.