|
THE
29-member House Committee on Public Information chaired
by Lakas Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. of
Manila
has endorsed for floor debate and approval a bill that
would enable greater public access to government
information on matters of civic concern, including all
state contracts.
The
proposed Freedom of Information Act, House Bill 3732,
explicitly mandates all state offices to make available
for public scrutiny all information regarding official
acts, transactions or decisions, as well as statistics
used for policy development, regardless of the format in
which the facts are stored or contained.
Nacionalista Party Rep. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza of
North Cotabato
and party-list Rep. Joel Villanueva of Cibac, two of the
bill’s principal authors, credited the Abante panel for
its prompt action.
“Once
enacted, the bill will surely give a whole new meaning
to the constitutional right to information, reinforce
public accountability and repel malfeasance,” Taliño-Mendoza
said.
“We are
absolutely certain this will go a long way in promoting
spotless transparency and improving governance,” she
added.
“We are
definitely now counting on the entire House as well as
the Senate to give the highest priority to the bill’s
passage.”
The
Senate and Malacañang have been wrestling over the
executive privilege to withhold supposedly sensitive
government information, particularly with respect to the
controversial national broadband network (NBN) project
and the joint exploration accord sealed by the
Philippines and China.
The
Supreme Court recently upheld executive privilege when
it blocked the Senate from arresting and compelling
Commission on Higher Education Chairman Romulo Neri of
the the erstwhile socioeconomic planning secretary, to
answer questions on President Arroyo’s alleged
involvement in the NBN project.
The
Court ruled that the Senate committed “grave abuse of
discretion” when it cited Neri in contempt.
Information exempt from the bill’s coverage include
those declared by the President as “classified,”
compiled for internal or external defense and law
enforcement, obtained by Congress in executive session,
on medical and personnel records that may constitute
invasion of privacy and pertaining to current treaty
negotiations, among others.
Liberal
Party Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya of Cavite, Laban Rep.
Juan Edgardo Angara of Aurora, Party-list Rep. Teodoro
Casiño of Bayan Muna, Lakas Rep. Del de Guzman of
Marikina City, Lakas Rep. Raul del Mar of Cebu,
party-list Rep. Cinchona Cruz-Gonzales of Cibac,
party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros of Akbayan, party-list
Rep. Liza Maza of Gabriela and Liberal Party Rep.
Lorenzo Tañada III of Quezon coauthored the bill.
Taliño-Mendoza
said the committee actually limited the executive
privilege to withhold sensitive information only in
times of war and emergency.
She
earlier lamented that more than two decades since the
installation of the 1987 Constitution, “we still do not
have a law providing the means for the effective and
orderly implementation of provisions concerning the
right to information.” |
