Senate hopes to pass FOI bill this week

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate hopes to pass the Freedom of Information Act  (FOI) within the week before the 16th Congress goes on recess from March 15 to May 4, Sen. Grace Poe said yesterday.

Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public information and mass media, is optimistic that the Senate will be able to approve the measure in a bid to strengthen transparency in government.

She expressed hope that the House of Representatives will also expedite approval of a similar measure at least before Congress goes into sine die adjournment in June.

The Senate version of the measure is a consolidation of 12 bills, including the indirect petition of the advocacy group Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition.

The FOI measure shall allow every Filipino citizen to request and be granted access to any record or information that is under control of the government, subject to reasonable exceptions.

“This measure gives us a right to look into the transactions in government. If this has been enacted for a long time, we may not have the pork barrel scam and even the housing scam,” Poe said.

The senator clarified that the FOI measure respects the presidential communications privilege and the separation of the three branches of government.  Executive privilege remains sacred under the law.

“However, there are circumstances when the public can scrutinize any final document before it is signed (by the president),” she explained.