The leadership of the House of Representatives will prioritize the passage of the Freedom of Information Act of 2016 as this will likely get passed on third and final ready before the year ends, a House leader said on Tuesday.
Bagong Henerasyon Party-List Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy, chairperson of the House committee on public information, said the Lower House will attend to plenary deliberations on the proposed transparency measure once lawmakers are done with the discussion on the 2018 national budget.
“Hopefully, once we transmit the budget to the Senate on September 21, we can start discussing this and we can pass this bill early next year,” Herrera-Dy said at a news conference.
Herrera-Dy, who replaced Alliance of Concerned Teachers Party-List Rep. Antonio Tiñio as panel head after the latter voted against the passage of the death penalty bill, said her committee expects the House leadership to work on the bill’s swift passage.
“Let us keep our fingers crossed that it can be taken up on second reading in between the priority measures of the House,” Herrera-Dy said.
The FOI bill, which was approved last February, is currently pending at the House committee on appropriations chaired by Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles for funding requirement of the proposed law.
The bill acknowledges due regard to the full protection of the right to privacy of individuals and subject to the procedures and limitations provided by law.
Under the bill, public employees and officials who shall deny a request for information will face administrative, criminal and civil liabilities.
“Access to official records, and to documents and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such limitations consistent with this Act,” the bill states.
But the bill includes exceptions on national security; law enforcement documents; documents with secrecy provisions; those exempted by statutes; trade secrets; confidential documents; legal professional privilege; and, personal memos.
