Palace submits version of FOI bill to House

Friday, February 3, 2012

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III announced that Malacanang has submitted its version of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill, which will give more public access to government information, to the House of Representatives.

“We formally submitted to our coalition partners in the House of Representatives a substitute Freedom of Information Bill, which we believe addresses stakeholders’ desires to have more transparency and more access to information in government,” Aquino said in his speech during the 112th anniversary of the Manila Bulletin on Thursday night.

The bill was submitted to the House Committee on Public Information chaired by Representative Ben Evardone on Thursday morning.

“We want every other administration voted into power to work under the same standard of transparency and accountability that we have set for ourselves. This is a significant step toward achieving that goal,” the President further said.

Asked if the measure will now be included in the Aquino administration’s priority bills, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said it is unlikely but the Palace will pursue it “vigorously”.

“The FOI version we submitted yesterday (Thursday) was crafted way after decision on the 13 priority measures was made. President Aquino has finally authorized a version and we will pursue it vigorously,” Valte said in a text message Friday.

Valte said the proposed bill is the result of extended and wide consultations with various stakeholders.

“Its basis and framework was the consolidated version based, in turn, largely on the FOI bill sponsored by Representative Erin Tañada. Extensive consultations were conducted with civil society and media proponents of FOI, as well as various agencies of the government,” she said.

“We believe that the draft we have submitted addresses the various concerns raised by different sectors, and will result in legislation that will strengthen the public’s access to information,” she added.

The submitted bill can be accessed through the Official Gazette website at www.gov.ph/foi. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)