MANILA: The impeachment complaints against President Aquino filed at the House of Representatives may affect the swift passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill, a lawmaker said yesterday.
Deputy Speaker Giorgidi Aggabao believes that there is a big chance that the FOI bill will be passed by Congress during the second regular session with the ‘special pitch’ made by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr last Monday.
“The only kink I see would be the busy schedule of Congress. The budget hearing plus the impeachment complaints would surely occupy a good part of our time,” said Aggabao, representative of the Fourth District of Isabela.
In his speech at the opening of the second regular session on Monday, Belmonte urged his colleagues to craft a ‘viable’ FOI law to strengthen government transparency and accountability.
Aquino, who faces impeachment complaints over the unconstitutional Disbursement Acceleration Programme (DAP), did not mention the FOI in his fifth State of the Nation Address.
The President, however, assured during a good governance forum earlier this month that an FOI bill will be enacted into law before his term ends in 2016.
Meantime, other lawmakers at the House have expressed support for Belmonte’s pitch, saying it is about time to pass the FOI bill.
“The FOI is one law which should be passed a long time ago and should have been one priorities under this administration of Daang Matuwid,” Abakada Party-list Representative Jonathan dela Cruz.
Stressing the overdue approval of the FOI bill, Pampanga Third District Representative Oscar Rodriguez, said he was file the original measure in the Eight Congress.
Parañaque City Representative Gus Tambunting, author of one of the pending FOI bills, hoped that the measure will become a law before 2014 ends.
Other lawmakers who welcomed Belmonte’s pitch were ACT-CIS Party-list Representative Samuel Pagdilao and Nueva Ecija First District Representative Estrellita Suansing.
“I believe that the passage of the FOI Bill will help bring back public trust to the government,” Suansing said.
The calls for the passage of an FOI law continue to mount as the government remains hounded by controversies involving public funds such as the congressional funds scam and the DAP.
Last week, FOI advocates submitted to Malacañang a petition with over 38,000 signatures calling for the approval of the measure.
On March 10, 2014, the Senate passed the FOI bill on third and final reading, with 22 affirmative votes, no abstention, and no negative votes.
The Committee of Public Information of the House of Representatives has formed a technical working group (TWG) to expedite the passage of the house version. The TWG has conducted regular meetings to discuss the provisions last February to June.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR
