Palace: Passage of FOI, Responsible Parenthood bills up to Congress

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang said yesterday that the Freedom of Information (FOI) and Responsible Parenthood (RP) bills were already in the hands of Congress even if the executive branch had expressed support for their immediate passage.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Monday said the FOI and RP bills would not be passed before the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Aquino in July of this year.

Earlier, the President said he was for the FOI and RP bills but it would be up to Congress to pass them as the administration had forwarded the provisions they wanted included in the bills.

He admitted in an interview over CNN’s Talk Asia that the Catholic Church’s opposition to the RP bill could be hampering its passage.

“We recognize the prerogative of the Speaker as well as the (House) majority leader when it comes to the pace of the discussion of the bills that are pending. I just want to mention also that there are economic bills that are part of the priority measures that were passed (to Congress) by the executive. As to when the bills will be discussed, that is something that we will defer to the House leadership,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing.

She said the administration understands that the discussions and debates on the RP bill have been taking quite sometime, but the pacing of the measure is up to Congress.

Belmonte, however, blamed the lack of time for the House’s failure to pass the bills. He said the two bills were not a priority because there were more important economic measures that must be passed.

He said other legislation like the anti-trust law would have to be approved to help the country’s economy.

The Aquino administration also welcomed the decision of the House of Representatives to prioritize human resource development and environment protection.

Valte said the lawmakers are determined to propose more new statutes or update existing laws to promote human development, particularly for the country’s labor force.