MAY-JUNE 200

14TH CONGRESS t KILLS FOI BILL

Advocates, legislators back to square one on FOI bill

n By Ruby Shaira F. Panela

HE FREEDOM of Information (FOI) Acta reconciled version of the Senate and House versions died in the final day of the 14th Congress, after being approved by the bicameral conference committee and ratified by the Senate in February of this year.
It was the farthest the bill had gone since the first version was filed in 1992. Widely expected to pass, among other reasons because of assurances to that effect by House Speaker Prospero Nograles and Malacaangs claim that it was supporting it, the bill can be reintroduced in the 15th Congressbut it will have to start from square one. To help speed it along, the advocates of the FOI Act have asked the next president to help realize the passage into law of the longdelayed bill thats meant to help ensure transparency and accountability in governance. President-elect Benigno Simeon Noynoy Aquino III, who was among the senators who voted for the Senate Bill 3308, the Senate version of the bill, responded by promising to make congressional passage of the FOI bill a priority of his legislative agenda once he assumes office this July.

Rep. Bienvenido Abante

bills last chance to become law before the 14th Congress passed into history. But Nograles suspended the June 4 session the minute Rep. Pedro Romualdo of Camiguin objected to Rep. Bienvenido Abantes motion to ratify the FOI bill and moved for a roll call. The House needed 135 warm bodies in the plenary hall to constitute a quorum. Representatives Abante and Joel Villanueva of Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Party-list opposed the roll call, but eventually agreed to it when the secretary-general of

House leadership fails

FOI advocates grieve over the failure of the bills passage.

Photos by LITO OCAMPO

Nograles had practically promised passage of bill. But the House failed to even hold a separate session last May 31 during which it could act on pending legislation, arguing that the lawmakers should concentrate on the national canvassing for president and vice president instead. The June 4 session was the

Foi bill sponsoRs wERE Among tHE AbsEntEEs

11. Aquino, Jose II S. 12. arnaiz, george P. 13. Arquiza, Godofredo V. 14. arroyo, diosdado M. 15. arroyo, ignacio t. 16. Arroyo, Maria Lourdes T. 17. balindong, Pangalian M. 18. barzaga, elpidio Jr. F. 19. Bautista, Franklin P. 20. Bichara, Al Francis C. 21. biron, Ferjenel g. 22. bondoc, anna york P. 23. Bravo, Narciso Jr. R. 24. briones, nicanor M. 25. Britanico, Salvador B. 26. cagas, Marc douglas iV c. 27. cajayon, Mary Mitzi l. 28. Canonigo, Ranulfo P. 29. castro, Fredenil h. 30. celeste, arthur F. 31. Chiongbian, Erwin L. 32. chong, glenn a. 33. clarete, Marina P. 34. climaco, Mara isabelle g. 35. Cobrador, Ceasar A. 36. Cojuangco, Mark O. 37. coscolluela, Ma. carissa o. 38. dangwa, Samuel M. 39. dayanghirang, nelson l. 40. daza, Paul R. 41. De Venecia, Jose Jr. C. 42. Diasnes, Carlo Oliver D. 43. dimaporo, abdullah d. 44. duavit, Michael John R. 45. dumarpa, Faysah RPM 46. durano, Ramon Vi h. 47. dy, Faustino iii g. 48. enverga, Wilfrido Mark M. 49. estrella, conrado iii 50. Estrella, Robert Raymund M. 51. Fabian, erico basillo a. 52. Fernandez, danilo Ramon S. 53. Ferrer, Jeffrey P. 54. Fua, orlando b. 55. Fuentebella, arnulfo P. 56. garcia, albert S. 57. garcia, Pablo P. 58. Garcia, Pablo John F. 59. Gatchalian, Rex 60. gonzales, aurelio Jr. d. 61. gonzales, neptali ii M. 62. gonzalez, Raul Jr. t. 63. Guanlao, Agapito H. 64. gullas, eduardo R. 65. gunigundo, Magtanggol i.t. 66. hataman, Mujiv S. 67. Hernandez, Ariel C. 68. hofer, ann K. 69. ilagan, luzviminda c. 70. Jala, adam Relson R. 71. Jalosjos, Cesar G. 72. Jalosjos-Carreon, Cecilia G. 73. Jikiri, yusop h. 74. Kho, antonio t. 75. lacson, Jose carlos V. 76. lagdameo, antonio Jr. F. 77. Lazatin, Carmelo F. 78. Ledesma, Julio IV A. 79. Leonen-Pizarro, Catalina G. 80. lim, teodoro 81. Lopez, Carol Jayne B. 82. Lopez, Jaime C. 83. Macapagal-Arroyo, Juan Miguel 84. Malapitan, Oscar G. 85. Mamba, Manuel n. 86. Maraon, alfredo iii d. 87. Marcoleta, Rodante d. 88. Martinez, celestino 89. Matugas, Francisco t. 90. Mendoza, Raymond DC 91. Mendoza, Vigor Ma. D 92. Mercado, Roger g. 93. Miraflores, Florencio T. 94. nava, Joaquin carlos Rahman a. 95. nicolas, Reylina g. 96. Omar, Haron D. 97. Palparan, Jovito Jr S. 98. Pancho, Pedro M. 99. Pancrudo, candido Jr. P. 100. Pingoy, arthur Jr. y. 101. Plaza, Rodolfo g. 102. Ponce-Enrile, Salvacion S. 103. Prieto-teodoro, Monica 104. Puno, Roberto V. 105. Ramiro, herminia M. 106. Remulla, Jesus crispin c. 107. Reyes, Carmencita O. 108. Reyes, Victoria h. 109. Robes, arturo b. 110. Rodriguez-Zaldirriaga, adelina

nly 128 out of the 267 representatives in the lower house attended the June 4 session. the rest had taken an early vacation or were busy in their new postsor deliberately stayed away to kill the Freedom of information (Foi) bill. the following are the representatives who were either absent or did not respond to the roll call in the last session of the house of Representatives. the list came from house Speaker Prospero nograles. highlighted in bold letters are the congressmen who were among the more than 180 co-sponsors of the Foi act. 1. abaya, Joseph emilio a. 2. agbayani, Victor aguedo e. 3. agyao, Manuel S. 4. Albano, Rodolfo III T. 5. Alcover Pastor Jr. M 6. almario, thelma Z. 7. alvarez, antonio c. 8. Amante, Edelmiro A. 9. amatong, Rommel c. 10. angping, Maria Zenaida b.

 MAY-JUNE 200

is this the end?

FouRtEEn YEARs oF EFFoRt AnD still Counting

TiMEliNE:
1987 Enactment of the Philippine Constitution of 1987. The right to information is recognized in Article 2, Sections 7 and 28: The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized. 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 limitations as may be provided by law. Rep. Oscar Orbos files House Bill (HB) 1805 or the Freedom of Information Act of 1992 which mandates government officials to provide access WITHIN 15 WORKING DAYS from receipt of (a request for) information. It also directs the Supreme Court to publish the rules prescribing the procedures, periods and pleadings, as well as courts to which appeals may be made. FOI Act advocacy groups are organized. At the 11th congress, a right to information bill passes in third reading in the House without a counterpart bill in Senate. Rep. Harlin Abayon files HB 2284 or the Freedom of Access to Information Act. Rep. Jose Apolinario Lozada, Jr. files HB 8194 or the Freedom of Information Act of 1999. Six right to information bills are filed under the House Committee on Public Information, including a committee report. Sen. Franklin Drilon files Senate Bill (SB) 1112 or the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act of 2004 in the 13th Congress. Four house bills are filed to give life to the constitutional provision on right to information: HB 784, filed by Rep. Harlin Abayon (1st District, Northern Samar) HB 2123, principally authored by Rep. Satur Ocampo (Party-List, Bayan Muna)HB 2993 by Rep. Emmanuel Joel Villanueva (PartyList, CIBAC)HB 3041 by Rep. Ernesto Ernie Pablo (Party-List, CIBAC). Civil society groups urge passage of the Freedom of Access to Information Act of 2006 sponsored by nine representatives. Its working title is Implementing the right of access to information on matters of public concern guaranteed under Section 7, Article III of the 1987 Constitution and for other purposes. House Speaker Prospero Nograles urges the House to discuss the FOI bill or HB 3732. HB 3732, titled An Act Implementing the Right of Access to Information on Matters of Public Concern Guaranteed Under Section Twenty-Eight, Article II and Section Seven, Article III of the 1987 Constitution and for Other Purposes, was a substitute for bills 194, 997, 1665, 2021, 2059, 2176, 2223, 2293 and 3116, which had previously been referred to the committee on public information for deliberation. Nograles says in a public statement that When there is full public disclosure of all government transactions involving public interest, subject to limitations under the proposed Act, the people will have full confidence and trust in their public officials and therefore there will be effective governance. HB 3732 passes second reading in the House of Representatives (HOR). HOR deliberates on HB 3732. HOR first approves FOI bill, with 197 out of 220 voting in favor of the bill. Two committee hearings are held in the Senate on its version of an FOI bill; a committee report is then finalized. The Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media files SB 3308 under Committee Report 534 or the Freedom of Information Act of 2009. The Senate passes the FOI bill on second reading. The Senate approves the FOI bill on third and final reading. The bicameral conference committee on the FOI convenes. The bicameral conference committee reconciles conflicting provisions in the Senate and House bills. The Senate approves the FOI Bill. The HOR fails to approve the FOI bill for lack of quorum. Congress goes into recess in preparation for the May 2010 elections. The HOR suspends the national canvassing of May 10 votes supposedly to tackle pending legislative measures. Rep. Bienvenido Abante moves for approval of the bill but Rep. Romualdo objects, citing lack of quorum. The HOR adjourns sine die. Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Miguel Zubiri and Alan Peter Cayetano vow to revive the FOI bill in the 15th Congress.

August 31, 1992

1993 (1998-2001) August 25, 1998 August 26, 1999

Hontiveros and Villanueva

the House assured them that there were at least 142 representatives on the floor. The secretary-generals announcement that there were, after all, only 128 present moved Nograles to adjourn the session. FOI bill advocates and supporters speculated that the June 4 session had been scripted by Nograles and Malacaang, a suspicion boosted by the fact that among the absentees in the June 4 session were presidential sons Reps. Diosdado Dato Arroyo and Juan Miguel Mikey Arroyo and outgoing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyos brother-inlaw, Rep. Ignacio Arroyo and her sister-in-law Ang Kasangga (Kasangga sa Kaunlaran Inc.) Party-list Rep. Ma. Lourdes Arroyo, as well as a veritable legion of Arroyo allies. If it had been so scripted, it was only one of many demonstrations of cynicism in a government noted for its capacity to commit the most outrageous acts in the history of this so-called democracy. The Philippines is the only Southeast Asian country under a democracy which has not legislated a Freedom of Information Act. Thailand, for one, has had the Official Information Act since 1997. Indonesia, for another, passed its their own Freedom of Information Act last April 30, 2010. n

January 2004 June 30, 2004

2005

2006

April 2008

April 2, 2008 April 30, 2008

111. Romarate, guillermo Jr. a. 112. Romualdez, Ferdinand Martin g. 113. Romulo, Roman t. 114. Roxas, Jose Antonio F. 115. Salvacion, andres Jr., d. 116. Santiago, narciso iii d. 117. Santos, Estrella DL. 118. Sarmiento, Ulpiano II P. 119. Seachon-lanete, Rizalina l. 120. Singson, Ronald V. 121. Solis, Jose G. 122. Suarez, danilo e. 123. Sy-Alvarado, Ma. Victoria R. 124. Talino-Mendoza, Emmylou J. 125. Tan, Sharee Ann T. 126. teodoro, Marcelino R. 127. teves, Pryde henry a. 128. tieng, irwin c. 129. Tomawis, Acmad 130. Tupas, Niel Jr. C. 131. Umali, Czarina D. 132. uy, edwin c. 133. uy, Rolando a. 134. uy, Reynaldo S. 135. Valdez, edgar l.

136. Villar, cynthia a. 137. Villarosa, Ma. amelita c. 138. yu, Victor l. 139. Zamora, Ronaldo b. however, Senior deputy Majority leader neptali gonzales ii with Representatives Mujiv hataman of anak Mindanao, arthur Pingoy, Jr. of South cotabato and Jack duavit of Rizal said that they were present in the plenary hall during the roll call but were not recognized by the secretary-general. Representatives Magtanggol gunigundo of Valenzuela, Jovito Palparan of bantay Party-list, Pablo garcia of cebu and oscar Malapitan of caloocan, also claimed they were among those who were in the plenary hall during the roll call. Some of them were even caught on video by media covering the session. adding these eight legislators to the 128 recorded present during the roll call would meet the required number of warm bodies for a quorum. n

May 6 2008 May 12, 2008 May 27, 2009 June 3, 2009 Dec. 7, 2009 Dec. 14, 2009 Jan. 18, 2010 Jan. 20, 2010 Feb. 1, 2010 Feb. 3, 2010 June 4, 2010

June 5, 2010

Sources: Inquirer.net Philstar.com gManews.tV congress.gov.ph Minimalgovernment.net aer.ph ansa-eap. net PJR Reports September 2006 access to information network Right to Know, Right now! campaign