117 solons unite for FOI bill after more than a year of deferred hearings
By Andreo Calonzo, GMA NEWS
August 6, 2012

After more than a year of deferred committee hearings, 117 House members united on Monday to call for the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill.

The lawmakers signed a full-page newspaper advertisement to “heed the people’s clamor” and “offer (their) commitment” to pass the FOI bill before the end of the 15th Congress.

“It is the obligation of Congress, with concurrence by the President, to enact an FOI law that will institutionalize transparency as the mandatory norm rather than a mere discretion for elective and appointive officials,” the advertisement read.

Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, principal author of the measure, said the manifesto was signed to send a message to the House leadership that there is already enough support for the FOI bill among lawmakers.

“We will inform the House Speaker of the number of congressmen who signed. The Speaker can order immediately for hearings to proceed. Sayang ang one week,” Tañada said at a press briefing Monday.

“With 117 members, I think the Speaker will be convinced to call for a hearing of the House committee on public information,” he added.

The FOI bill, which seeks to lift the shroud of secrecy over government transactions and data, has been pending before House committee on public information since February last year.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, the panel’s chairperson, decided last week to further defer the committee hearings despite his earlier pronouncements that he will convene the panel on August 7.

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