The Philippine Online Chronicles

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said they are disappointed with the president excluding the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill from his list of priority bills which was presented in yesterday's second Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting.

“The President should explain why the bill was not among the priority. That would be a big setback to ensure wider transparency in the bureaucracy,” NUJP chairperson Nestor Burgos said, adding that with the exclusion of the bill, “it is easy to conclude that this is not a priority of the administration despite repeated statements. Apparently, the president and the administration are not living up its promises especially on the FOI.”

In an earlier statement, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda explained that the FOI bill was not included because it is still “being studied.”

“We have certain concerns, valid concerns, which we are going to raise, which have been raised by the president himself,” he said. However, he assured critics that the bill “is not dead in the water.”

Aquino had strongly expressed his support for the bill when he was still a presidential candidate.

The Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition said in a statement, “As the presumptive winner of the May 2010 elections, the president had promised to assign first priority to the FOI’s passage into law, and in June 2010, as president, he launched his government on the principles of transparency, accountability, and good governance.”

“What seems like a state of principled indecision in Malacañang makes us wonder: Is the president part of the solution, or part of the problem, in assuring the passage of the FOI bill?” said the group. “Or perhaps neither, because he has chosen to pass up a chance to lead on a strategic policy issue that the Constitution has so clearly mandated him and all public officials to uphold and enforce—the people’s right to know.”

“Bill can still push through”

According to the bill's author, Quezon representative Lorenzo Tañada III, the deliberations in Congress on FOI bill could still push through if the lawmakers work for it, even in the absence of support from Malacañang.

Tañada noted that “in the end, the House leadership will have to make decision if it wants to pass the FOI bill.”

The lawmaker also mentioned that during the 14^th Congress, deliberations on the bill were possible even without the support from then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. However, the bill failed to be ratified due to lack of quorum.

In an earlier statement, Tañada said that the House Public Information Committee aims to approve the bill by August.

The 14-year delayed bill seeks to give the public, including the media, the right to access government documents including compromise agreements, private sector participation agreements or contracts in infrastructure and development projects, procurement contracts of government agencies, construction or concession agreements, loans, and more.