House committee approves FoI bill
THE HOUSE committee on public information, chaired by ACT-Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio L. Tinio, has approved the freedom of information bill during its hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
“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. In record time, we have been able to consolidate 35 proposed measures. Today, we approved the FoI Bill at the committee level,” Mr. Tinio said in a statement yesterday.
“We hope that, with the support of the House leadership, we will soon be able to take up the FoI Bill in plenary,” he added.
The approved substitute bill covers all government agencies in the executive, legislative and judicial branches as well as the constitutional bodies of all agencies, departments, bureaus, offices and instrumentalities of the national government.
It also covers both houses of Congress, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Supreme Court and all lower courts.
However, the measure also lists several exceptions such as information that would affect the country’s national security or defense and information that may affect the country’s ongoing bilateral or multilateral negotiations or may jeopardize the country’s diplomatic relations.
Testimony, report, document, or discussion obtained during an executive session in Congress or any of its committees are also excluded from the covered information the public can access.
Trade secrets and commercial or financial information or intellectual property obtained from a natural or juridical person other than the requesting party are also excluded.
The measure also sets administrative and criminal liabilities for violation of the right to information.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte last year signed an executive order to implement FoI within the executive department.
House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez told reporters he supports the proposed legislation, saying, “Yes, of course, kailangan
maging transparent tayo (We need to be transparent).”
He added it will depend on the committee on rules when it can calendar the measure for plenary deliberations, but said the bill can be approved on third and final reading within the year.
When asked if this can be discussed in plenary alongside the measure seeking to reinstate capital punishment, Mr. Alvarez said: “Titingnan ko kasi death penalty yung nakasalang at yun yung pinag-uusapan sa plenary. Hopefully, kung kakayanin, bakit hindi? (I will look into it because the death penalty bill is being discussed in the plenary. Hopefully, if we can also take this up, why not?)”
In a separate statement, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto C. Abella said of the House committee approval of the FoI bill: “The FoI, long overdue, is an essential component of the President anti-corruption drive as it promotes greater transparency, openness and accountability in governance.”