Poe to wrap up hearings on FOI bill

Senator Grace Poe. PHOTO FROM SENATOR POE’S OFFICE

The Senate committee on public information and mass media has resumed its hearing on the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill.

Senator Grace Poe, who chairs the committee, said she hoped to wind up the public hearings on the bill this Thursday. The committee held its first hearing on September 19.

Invited to the second hearing of the committee are officials from the Department of Justice, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Presidential Communications Office, National Security Council, Ombudsman, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and Bureau of Customs and other stakeholders.

Poe said a committee report was expected to follow soon after in view of the Senate’s commitment to pass the measure in record time.

READ: Senate begins FOI hearings; Poe cites reasons why it should be passed

In the 16th Congress, Poe said the chamber passed the FOI measure in eight months.

She said she expected the long-delayed measure to be swiftly passed under the Duterte administration, which has issued an executive order to manifest its commitment to transparency in governance.

READ: FOI order covers executive branch

“We see the need to finally enact an FOI law as the administration also fully espouses transparency and accountability in the bureaucracy,” the senator has said.

“An FOI law is long overdue. Public disclosure of information encourages greater care on the part of the government,” she added.

The proposed measure seeks to allow public access to documents and information in all government agencies subject to some exceptions. It covers all government agencies and instrumentalities, including the executive, legislative, judicial branches of government, local governments as well as government-owned-and-controlled corporations and government financial institutions. CBB