With Due Respect By Artemio V. Panganiban Philippine Daily Inquirer

Good news! Prior to its adjournment for the holidays, the Senate started plenary deliberation on the freedom of information (FOI) bill. Buried in the legislative mill for the last 14 years, the bill was resurrected by Sen. Grace Poe in the Senate committee on public information, which approved it last September. Senate President Franklin Drilon expects the entire chamber to pass it by the end of March.

Sticky points. But the bad news is that the House committee on public information and media has yet to act on the measure. All it did was to give its technical working group until mid-February to consolidate the 19 or so pending versions of the FOI bill.

It seems the House committee is stuck on several issues, like the insistence of some legislators to install a rider, the so-called right of reply that would require media outlets to give criticized officials the same print space or broadcast time, free of charge. Constitutionalists view this as a violation of the right to free speech of media practitioners.

Another sticky point is the attempt of a few House members to exempt their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) from the proposed FOI law. This is a sneaky effort to amend the Ethical Standards Law and Anti-Graft Law that already allow public access to SALNs. In obedience to this fundamental policy, even the Supreme Court justices have released their SALNs to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. Why should legislators be exempted?

Charter provisions. In its Declaration of Principles and State Policies, the Constitution provides: Subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law, the State adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest.

More clearly, the Charter, in its Bill of Rights, states: The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized.

Follow Us

More from this Column:

Recent Stories:

Here is the original post:

Freedom of information