FOI bill to be filed through indirect initiative

MANILA, Philippines - Groups advocating the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill will push for the measure’s approval in the next Congress through the “indirect initiative.”

Instead of being filed by legislators, the Right to Know Right Now coalition’s version of the FOI bill will be filed personally by citizens in the 16th Congress via the indirect initiative mode provided in Republic Act 6735 or the Initiative and Referendum Act of 1989, according to lawyer Nepomuceno Malaluan, lead convenor of the coalition.

Under the law, duly accredited people’s organizations may file a petition for indirect initiative with the House of Representatives and other legislative bodies.

In a press briefing in Quezon City yesterday, Malaluan said that under the indirect initiative mode, petitioners will be the ones who will sit in committee hearings as the proposal goes through the legislative mill.

The bill will go through the same process as other proposed legislation “except that the said initiative bill shall have precedence over the pending legislative measures on the committee.”

Despite this precedence, Malaluan said, the coalition still has to ensure that they have the support of enough legislators who will see to the passage of the FOI bill.

He also said that indirect initiative is the practical option as the other requires 10 percent of the number of registered voters to sign a petition.

Several bills have been filed in the past through the indirect initiative. But Malaluan said he is not aware of any that has been passed through this mode of legislation.

The Right to Know Right Now coalition, a network of more than 150 civil society organizations, is set to file their People’s FOI bill once the next Congress officially starts its three-year term on July 1.

Malaluan said the advocates of the FOI bill will use all available means to push for its passage.

The bill almost reached passage in the 14th Congress but was shelved due to lack of quorum in the House of Representatives on its last session day in 2010.

The measure failed to get past the House Committee on Public Information in the last Congress despite the vocal support of some congressmen, including outgoing deputy speaker Erin Tañada.

The Senate, on the other hand, approved the bicameral conference report in 2010 and passed the bill on third reading in the last Congress.

Malacañang, meanwhile, created a study group and proposed its own version of the bill in the previous Congress.

But President Aquino, who earlier promised to push for the passage of an FOI bill, did not include the measure in his list of priority bills.

People’s FOI bill to empower the public

Once enacted, the People’s FOI bill will enable the public to access government documents.

Malaluan said the People’s FOI bill, which has yet to be finalized, will take into account the “spirit and letter” of the different versions proposed in the last 17 years.

These include the proposed amendments of the Malacañang Study Group, the bicameral conference report of the 14th Congress, and the refinements introduced in the previous House and Senate versions in the 15th Congress. – With Jess Diaz, Helen Flores