An Editorial Cartoon depicting the FOI Bill’s current status
A new Congress means a new chance.
After countless attempts, the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill gets a new opportunity to be passed into law as re-elected Philippine Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Alan Peter Cayetano filed their own versions of the proposed measure to jumpstart the 16th congress this week.
Freedom of Information or the public’s right to access information in government transactions has been embalmed in the Philippine Constitution over 25 years ago but has failed to be passed into a law because of misunderstanding between out Congress and Senate.
The FOI Bill was nearly accepted in the 14th Congress and although a version of it, the People’s Ownership of Government Information law or POGI, was passed by the Senate in the 15th Congress, it did not push through in the lower house.
Senator Escudero said in his explanatory note on Senate Bill No. 18 that transparency in transactions empowers people to demand accountability while Cayetano said in his own explanatory note on Senate Bill No. 90 that there is a need to institutionalize President Aquino’s anti-corruption initiatives.
After a quarter of a century of waiting for the FOI Bill to be ratified, countless organizations are already taking matters into their own hands, by picketing against the mishandling of the Bill in both houses of the Judiciary branch of our government, and by informing the public about the positive impact the approval of the Bill would bring to every Filipino today. TRA
Sen. Chiz Escudero during a Senate hearing
Sen. Alan Cayetano
Sources:
The Rational Anthem 