BUTUAN CITY (Feb. 25, 2014) – It may be a rough ride for the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill to hurdle the Lower House this 16th Congress, but Agusan del Norte First District Representative Lawrence “Law” Fortun says he is hopeful.
The FOI bill upholds Article 3 Section 7 of the Philippine Constitution, emphasizing that “the right of people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized.” FOI allows full public access to government official records, with few exceptions, i.e. presidential entitlements to communication privilege and other executive official’s entitlements to “deliberative process privilege”. The bill is seen as integral component to the transparency and accountability thrust of the Aquino government.
The neophyte solon, who is also a co-author of one of the FOI bills in the House, manifested his optimism of FOI amidst continuous investigation of plunder cases against Janet Lim Napoles and a handful legislators. Whistle-blowers revealed what appears to be the mother of all scam of the wrongful use of priority development assistance fund (PDAF) funneled through bogus non-government organizations.
While the Senate eyed to finish deliberations and amendments of their FOI version next month, the lower house has yet to consolidate 12 versions of the bill.
In a radio interview, Fortun said the bill is consistent his advocacy on transparency and good governance, but cognizant of the inherent oppositions of some legislators. The young solon is hopeful that his colleagues in the lower house would fast-track the deliberations on the legislative measure, noting how it remained dormant and suffered excessive delays in the preceding Congress.
Lawig Katawhan
Lawig Katawhan 