Leni Robredo's first bill: Full disclosure in gov't transactions

MANILA, Philippines - Camarines Sur Rep. Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo filed her first bill in the House of Representatives, which seeks the full disclosure of transactions of all elected officials.

"Funds are the hard-earned money of the people that should be spent judiciously and only for the common good," said Robredo, widower of the late Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, in the proposed measure's explanatory note.

Robredo, a lawyer by profession, said that the bill follows her husband's dream of making information on how and where taxes are spent readily available to the public.

The Full Disclosure Bill or HB 19 proposes to mandate all government agencies and their sub-units and projects to disclose in a conspicuous manner their budget and financial transactions "without any requests from the public."

"This will allow people to access the data at any time without any burden of technicalities and bureaucracy," the neophyte lawmaker said.

The bill also seeks to make available information on "how government funds are managed, disbursed and used," according to the pending law's note.