THERE'S an important piece of legislation that may remain forgotten by Congress members as they busy themselves with Christmas and the preparations for the elections next year.

The Freedom of Information Act, a law that was promised 22 years ago by the 1987 Constitution, may get derailed further if senators do not approve their own version of the measure in the next few days, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said.

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Senators have only a little over 20 session days left before they adjourn for the May 2010 elections. The PCIJ statement said, Senate Bill 3308 finally entered its period of interpellation last month, a full five months after the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading its counterpart legislation, House Bill 3732. Failure by the senators to act on Senate Bill 3308 before Congress takes a long break on February 5, 2010 for the national elections would be a grave reversal, even a fatal blow, to passage of the law, the PCIJ said.

A coalition of media and civil society groups named the Right to Know, Right Now! Network was formed to push for the passage of the law intended to enhance governance. "The clock is ticking fast, and the senators are now facing judgment: Are they champions of the people's right to know?" asked the group.

Coalition members were scheduled to march to the Senate yesterday, Monday, with huge replicas of clocks to emphasize the need for senators to act on the bill before Congress goes on break for the elections.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution guarantees the right to information of citizens regardless of social status, economic standing or political maturity. The Constitution recognizes that information is vital to a democracy and to human development.

But, between what is enshrined in the Constitution and implementation of the right to information, are several hurdles. These hurdles are the limitations stated in the constitutional provision and a wrong understanding of the right.

The Constitution qualifies the general rule by imposing limitations, like national security, to the right to information. These limitations have been used by government to justify non-disclosure, inaction over requests for information or delays in releasing data to the public, especially when the information demanded is potentially controversial.

This concern for the people's right to information has been highlighted in recent events. According to the group, advocacy work for the proposed law has stretched on for years in the 12th, 13th and 14th Congresses.

A failure again to have the law passed in this Congress would mean that the group would have to restart the process of legislation from step one, file the bills anew in both the House of Representatives and the Senate with possibly less certain results, when the 15th Congress opens on June 30, 2010 yet, the PCIJ report said.

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The Sun.Star website at www.sunstar.com.ph has updated its blog on Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao in time for his big fight this Sunday against Puerto Rican fighter Miguel Cotto.

The blog special at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/blogs/pacman/ contains photos of the national boxing icon, news reports on the coming fight, opinion columns and feature articles. This section is interactive so readers can post their own views and even exchange fight predictions with other readers.

(ninicab@sunstar.com.ph)