House of Representatives. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives may soon follow the footsteps of its counterpart as it would use the Senate-approved freedom of information (FOI) bill as a “reference material” in crafting its own version, a lawmaker said Tuesday.
“It’s good news that the Senate approved their version as it could be a good reference material for us in crafting the version of the House,” Misamis Occidental Representative Jorge Almonte said in an interview over Inquirer Radio 990 AM.
Almonte, who chairs the House committee on public information, made the statement after the House version of the FOI bill remains stalled in the committee level where a technical working group (TWG) is still consolidating the bill’s 24 versions.
The FOI bill aims to promote transparency and accountability in government transactions and data but lists exemptions such as information that affect national security and foreign affairs.
In the lower chamber, the TWG was still in section 7 that lists the exemptions from full disclosure of information. The sub-committee has only finished six of the total 29 sections before it goes on Lenten break starting March 15. It will resume session on May 5.
Almonte said the pace of FOI has been slow in the lower chamber because of other important bills such as the House Joint Resolution No. 1 filed by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte that seeks to ease foreign restrictions in the Constitution.
“There are intervening events that somehow slowed down the pace of the FOI bill,” Almonte said in Filipino, citing a TWG meeting last Monday that was postponed to enable its members to attend a constitutional amendments committee hearing and vote for the charter change resolution.
The FOI bill has been languishing in the lower chamber.
Under the 15th Congress, the FOI bill reached the plenary, but was not mentioned before it adjourned for the break.
Meanwhile, under the 14th Congress, the bill was not passed as the House failed to meet a quorum.
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