Human Rights Online Philippines

Dear Friends,

Please sign the Online Petition for the passage of the FOI bill now at

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/please-pass-the-freedom-of-information-bill-now/

and please forward this appeal to all your yahoogroups and personal email contacts. We need a huge number of signatures to make an impact.

For those who want to read the bill, this is the link to the bill – http://www.opengovpartnership.org/sites/www.opengovpartnership.org/files/Aquino%20FOI%20Bill.pdf

The importance of the Freedom of Information Bill is well established, yet it has been languishing in Congress for the past two decades and remains languishing in the House of Representatives two years after Pres. Pnoy won the presidency on a platform of government transparency; it is high time for the FOI bill to be passed. The FOI version in the Senate, renamed as the People’s Ownership of Government Information Act of 2012, was passed on third and final reading on Dec. 17, 2012. In the House of Representatives, the FOI bill formally known as House Bill 6766 has been passed on first reading. Congress will reconvene on January 21, 2013 giving them only nine sessions before adjourning on Feb. 9 for more than four months until after the May mid-term elections. Our window of opportunity is very tight, but let us make one more push for Congress to enact the bill into law in the 15th Congress. Time is of the essence.

Also, please write Pres. Pnoy an email at Pres. Pnoy <pnoy@noynoyaquino.ph>; titonoy@president.gov.ph; op@president.gov.ph- urging him to certify as urgent the passage of the FOI Bill.

Furthermore, please write House Speaker Belmonte, Jr at Speaker Belmonte <sonnybelmonte2011@yahoo.com>; and info-tech@congress.gov.ph and members of the House of Representatives, notably House Committee On Public Information chairman Rep. Ben Evardone, House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzalez, Jr. and the representatives in your specific province, to pass this FOI Bill now. Log into the website of the 15th Congress House of Representatives, Congress of the Philippines, http://www.congress.gov.ph/ . Scroll down to the bottom of the home page and click on CONTACT US. On the next screen, “If you want to contact the chief of staff of your Congressman, please select from the list: (then click GO!)

The next screen shows a picture of your congressman. Click on Send email and this will take you to the next screen where you can write your email. Let us flood them with emails to catch their attention.

With the new year, let us resolve to do whatever we can do, individually and collectively, for a better Philippines – not just for ourselves but more importantly for the 26.5 % of our population classified in 2009 by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) as poor.

Have a very Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year!!!

Best regards.
Greg Mariano, Jr.
Hollidaysburg, PA

Some informative links:
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2012/12/20/888050/foi-bill-wont-be-certified-urgent-palace-official – FOI bill won’t be certified as urgent – Palace official – By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) | Updated December 20, 2012 – 12:00am

http://pcij.org/blog/2012/12/02/a-hundred-voices-one-clamor-certify-foi-bill-as-urgent – December 2, 2012 – A hundred groups urge P-Noy, Congress: Certify FOI as urgent!

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