FOI bill now ready for House plenary debates

GMA News December 11, 2012 3:44pm

The Freedom of Information (FOI) bill is now ready for plenary debates at the House of Representatives after the public information committee approved on Tuesday its report on the measure.

The panel swiftly approved the committee report on the FOI bill—a measure that promotes transparency in government records and transactions—during Tuesday’s hearing, which lasted for less than an hour.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, public information committee chairperson, was not present during the hearing. In a text message, he said he is still in New York after he attended a United Nations forum over the weekend.

Before the approval of the committee report, Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo, a co-author of the FOI bill, expressed his reservations on the approval of the measure at the committee level last month.

“I was surprised that there was already a voting. I put my reservations on record. The bill was approved without resolving some issues, such as the inclusion of the private sector in the FOI bill,” Romualdo said during the hearing.

He added that the inclusion of the right-of-reply provision in the FOI bill is an “intelligent and legitimate call.” This provision requires the media to publish or air the side of parties involved in issues which will stem from information obtained through the measure.

‘Weak’ penalties

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, meanwhile, raised concern that the penalties to be imposed on violators of the FOI bill may already be “outdated.”

“This bill only recommends up to four years imprisonment and up to P1,000 fine. The liabilities here are very weak,” he said.

Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, main proponent of the FOI bill, for his part, encouraged members of the committee to just raise their concerns during plenary debates on the measure.

“We are willing to revisit certain provisions at the plenary and make necessary adjustments during the period of amendments,” Tañada said during the hearing.

Tañada hopes the bill will be tackled at the plenary before the Christmas break, so that it can be approved on second reading by January.

Evardone, meanwhile, committed to sponsor the FOI bill during plenary sessions next week. — KBK, GMA News