Robredo to certify FOI bill as urgent if elected as president

Vice President Leni Robredo. (Photo by Charlie Villegas / OVP)

MANILA, Philippines — Should she get elected president in the May 2022 elections, Vice President Robredo on Friday said she will certify as urgent the freedom of information (FOI) bill in her bid for government transparency.

However, while the bill is pending in Congress, Robredo said she will issue an executive order (EO) requiring all government offices to be transparent.

“Ito ‘yung mga ice-certify ko as urgent,” she said in the Kapisanan ng Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) Presidential Candidates Forum.

(I will certify these as urgent)

“I-require ‘yung full disclosure sa lahat ng government offices and instrumentalities kahit wala pang batas kasi kahit wala pang batas, puwede akong gumawa ng EO para mayroon nang ganun ng demand for all government offices,” she added.

(While there is still no law, I will issue an EO to require full disclosure in all government offices and instrumentalities.)

Robredo is one of the authors of the FOI bill when she was then a representative of the 3rd District of Camarines Sur in 2013.

Under the then proposed measure, “the State recognizes the right of the people to information on matters of public concern and adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest, subject to the procedures and limitations as provided by this Act.”

The bill said public disclosure is mandatory for all government agencies, including executive, legislative and judicial branches, constitutional bodies, local governments and their agencies, regulatory agencies, chartered institutions, government-owned and controlled corporations, government financial institutions, state universities and colleges, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, all offices in Congress, Supreme Court and all lower courts.

/MUF