Belmonte renews vow: FOI bill to pass in 16th Congress

House Speaker Sonny Belmonte Jr. on Tuesday renewed his promise that the Freedom of Information Bill will pass under his watch during the current 16th Congress, even putting his neck on the line for the controversial measure.
 

“Ang ipinangako ko talaga is during the 16th Congress. Bitayin ninyo [na] ako kung matapos ito at hindi pa nakakapasa,” Belmonte told reporters during a press conference at the House of Representatives.

 

Belmonte made the assurance despite the fact that the FOI bill, which seeks to grant the public easier access to information, has yet to be consolidated at the committee level in the House.

On Monday, the Senate approved the FOI bill on third and final reading, leaving the House to catch up with the legislative process. But Belmonte assured the public that the House will do the same under his watch.
 

“Yes, they have approved it several times in the Senate if you will recall. You will also recall when we started talking about it in the 16th Congress, I promised that it will be passed during our term of office which is the 16th Congress, so we are working on it,” Belmonte said.

 

Last Congress, the Senate also managed to pass the FOI bill on third reading. However, the House "killed" the FOI bill on the floor, after more than a year of languishing at the public information committee. 

 

Malacañang, for its part, has welcomed the passage of the FOI bill at the Senate.

 

"We support the Senate's enactment of the FOI bill, as it substantially incorporates the draft we submitted to its committee on public information. We affirm the importance of applying the principles of freedom of information as these constitute the essential foundations of good governance," Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio Coloma Jr. told reporters in a text message Monday.

 

President Benigno Aquino III, who won the country’s top elective post on a platform of government transparency, has repeatedly said that he supports the FOI bill. Aquino, however, has repeatedly said that he sees no need for the FOI to be declared as urgent. — RSJ, GMA News