MANILA – The House Committee on Public Information has consolidated several measures seeking to strengthen the country’s freedom of information (FOI).
In an online meeting on Tuesday, the panel, through its technical working group (TWG), tackled and consolidated various proposals strengthening the people's right to information; implementing the constitutional policies of full public disclosure and honesty in the public service; ensuring public access to official records, documents and any other information of public concern; and enabling the people's constitutional right of access to information.
KABAYAN Party-list Rep. Ron Salo, who heads the TWG, said the legislators agreed to use House Bill 5776, authored by Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas, as the working draft.
“We hope that we’ll be able to thresh out some of our concerns and come up with a proposed measure that would really address the concerns of our citizenry,” Salo said.
The panel went through the entire draft substitute measure to ensure that all comments and suggestions by concerned government agencies and other stakeholders are heard and considered in finalizing the bill.
Vargas highlighted that one distinct feature of his bill that cannot be found in other bills is the creation of a Freedom of Information Commission, which shall oversee the implementation and enforcement of FOI in all branches of government.
“The establishment of a commission will promote the exercise of the right of access to information. It will help in the redress in cases of violation of this right by virtue of an appeal remedy. The commission may also perform technical assistance and guidance to government agencies in the implementation of the right of access to information,” he said.
“Since it is the gatekeeper of government information, it will have a clear understanding of what information may not be released because of the exceptions under the law,” he added.
Another particular aspect of his filed bill is to make available all statistical data on budgets, appropriations, contracts and the like in machine-readable format.
“This means giving jpeg and pdf files is a no-no. This will ensure that researchers and analysts will have a quicker and easier time in processing and analyzing data especially with regard to people’s money,” he added.
The bill provides that government agencies must respond to an FOI request within 15 days from the receipt thereof.
However, Salo said the lawmakers would look into how the period for compliance can be gradually reduced for the convenience of Filipinos, while considering capabilities of various agencies (PNA)
