Manila, Philippines – Today’s scheduled voting on the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill at the House of Representatives has been cancelled.
In a text message to reporters, Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, House committee on public information chairman, said the meeting was cancelled upon instruction of the House leadership.
“The leaders of the House want to take up the bill in a caucus of members of the majority coalition,” he said.
Coalition leaders also wanted his committee to give way to another vote on the proposed law on reproductive health (RH), he added.
Evardone, a former journalist, denied accusations that he had cancelled the voting because he was trying to kill the bill.
“The accusation is baseless and misplaced,” he said.
“As I said, there are contending issues that need to be resolved first and I believe those issues can be hammered out in the planned caucus.
“This will expedite the process and will prevent divisive debates in the committee and plenary. Let’s just wait for the caucus, which hopefully will be held soon after the RH vote.”
Evardone assured FOI proponents that he is not against the bill.
“In fact, I am fully behind the spirit and intent of the measure,” he said. “It is just that there are issues and concerns that need to be resolved.”
Evardone said among such issues is the insistence of Nueva Ecija Rep. Rodolfo Antonino to include in the FOI bill provisions on the right to reply of parties who feel aggrieved by news reports or stories.
Antonino wants that replies be given equal space or time and prominence, he added.
The Nueva Ecija lawmaker heads the National Unity Party, which is part of the majority coalition.
Another issue is the opposition of militant party-list representatives to the inclusion in the FOI bill of some Palace-proposed provisions that would keep certain government information from the media and the public, Evardone said.
Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada, one of the bill’s authors, said any unresolved issue could be voted on in the committee once it is convened.
“The important thing is to get the measure out of the committee and into the plenary so it would not suffer the same fate that it suffered in the last Congress, which failed to approve it,” he said.
Tañada said he was disappointed that today’s voting has been cancelled.
He would ask Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to schedule a caucus on the proposed FOI law as soon as possible, he added.
In Baguio City, Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. accused Evardone of holding hostage the FOI bill.
“He has postponed and delayed committee deliberations over the past two years, the latest is the Aug. 7 meeting agreed upon with the authors,” he said.
“This despite his coming out previously in media saying that he is pushing for the passage of the FOI bill.”
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Source: Jess Diaz and Artemio Dumlao, The Philippine Star (7 August 2012)
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