Poe: I won’t allow Malacañang restrictions in Senate FOI
Senator Grace Poe has assured the public that questionable exceptions from Malacañang’s Freedom of Information (FOI) will not be approved by the Senate once the bill is tackled by both chambers of Congress.
Poe also said that the bill will most likely be approved by the Senate by January next year.
“Sana ‘yung exemptions na ginawa ng executive order ay ‘di naman ‘yun ang gamitin na exemptions kasi pagdating sa bicameral, pagdating sa senado, hindi ko papayagan ‘yun,” she said during an INQ&A interview on Tuesday.
(I hope the exemptions in the executive order will not be used as exemptions in Congress because when it comes to the bicameral, when it is forwarded to the Senate, I will not allow it.)
Poe was referring to congressmen allied to President Rodrigo Duterte.
Asked if the executive order will encourage the House of Representatives to fast-track the FOI, she said, “They want to be able to show support to the President and the President opened a challenge to us. Tapos na ako, kayo naman. So, siguro naman (I’m done, it’s your turn. So, I think he will).”
Poe earlier expressed opposition to Malacañang’s 166 exceptions to the FOI, specifically the restriction on the release of statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) of government officials.
READ: Palace to clarify 166 exemptions to FOI order
“Hindi po kasama dapat ang SALN sa sinisikreto,” she said. “Kasi ang SALN ng bawat kawani ng gobyerno ay dapat madali makita sa website para makita kung tama ba ang lifestyle mo sa kinikita mo.”
(The SALN should not be hidden. It should be available to the public through a website so people can see if your lifestyle matches your salary.)
READ: Poe wants FOI ‘restrictive rules’ on release of SALNs removed
“The SALN should be easily accessible to the people,” she said.
Poe said she still has to study the other exceptions listed in Malacañang’s draft FOI manual.
“But we can’t blame the President. This is not a law yet. This is just an executive order. And what we need to do is to institutionalize it so that long after the President is in power, we still have that law,” she said, adding that even the amendment of the Constitution should be FOI-compliant.
Asked when the FOI will be tackled again in the Senate, Poe said they still have to discuss the budget and the emergency powers for President Duterte.
“But I guarantee our listeners that we debated in this quite exhaustively during the last 15th congress and… By early January, you have this already by third reading in the Senate,” she said.
Poe recalled that the Senate previously passed the FOI bill after three months of debates but it was their counterparts in the House of Representatives who were delayed. JE/rga
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