We join the call for the House Committee on Public Information to constitute as soon as possible the Technical Working Group (TWG) to consolidate the Freedom of Information Bills. Given the deadline the committee imposed upon itself to come up with a consolidated version by mid February, the Committee can still accomplish this but must no longer lose time. Here is an article from GMA News. Take time to read :) Weeks before self-imposed deadline, House panel yet to meet on FOI bill January 20, 2014 6:54pm 45 8 0 91 DIWA party-list Representative Emmeline Aglipay on Monday said the snail-paced movement of the Freedom of Information bill at the House of Representatives is due to the inaction of House Public Information Committee Chair Rep. Jorge Almonte. “I’m quite disappointed with how the Chair has handled this. If he’s sincere in his commitment, we’ll set meetings, but that’s not happening right now,” Aglipay said in a forum sponsored by the Right to Know Right Now coalition. Other than a meeting in December last year that set the deadline for a consolidated version of the FOI bill on the second week of February, neither the committee nor the technical working group within it has done much work on the bill. “Since December, there has been no meeting, the Technical Working Group has not even met yet. And I was very disappointed that when I talked to the Chair, he was very non-committal,” she said. In October last year, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat offered to chair the TWG in case Almonte was too busy, but Almonte shut down that suggestion saying he can handle the TWG himself. Almonte, who represents the 1st District of Misamis Occidental, said then that he did not want the committee to ignore 40 other bills referred to the committee. It will be unfair if we can’t consider the rest of the bills sent to the committee [and just focus on FOI,] he said. The Public Information Committee has jurisdiction over all matters directly and principally relating to the production and dissemination of information to the public. In November, Almonte said he could not meet the TWG as he was scheduled to attend the World Scout Parliamentary Union in Japan. The lawmaker also serves as regional chairman of the Western Visayas Boy Scouts of the Philippines Council. He earlier moved a scheduled organizational meeting of the Public Information Committee in order to grace the Western Visayas Jamboree. Aglipay said she and other members of the committee will have to convince Almonte to set meetings to meet the February deadline for the consolidated bill. “We really have to hurdle the committee chair. After all, it depends on how fast the committee can work, [before we are able to consolidate the bills.] After that, then we can finally talk to the House leadership,” Aglipay said. She said that while three weeks is enough time to consolidate some 19 versions of the FOI bill, the committee will have to take its cue from Almonte. “When I talked to him about the impending second week of February deadline [for the consolidation of bills,] he didn’t say anything. But we still have time to meet the deadline. Three weeks is a long time. Although if he doesn’t want to accomplish anything, no time will be long enough,” Aglipay said. Aglipay also floated the idea of moving without Almonte. “The most extreme I can think of is to act without the chair, since he refuses to call meetings. He always brings up the ‘I-have-blanket-authority’ card. I think the committee members have the numbers,” she said. The lawmaker was quick to say, however, that she would prefer to work on the bill alongside Almonte. “I dont want to reach that point,” she said. GMA News Online tried to reach Almonte for comment but the lawmaker has yet to respond. On Sunday, Senator Grace Poe, Almontes counterpart at the Senate, said the Senate might approve its version of the FOI bill by March. The bill has already been approved at the committee level but will have to be debated in plenary. Senate President Franklin Drilon said in December that passing the bill is among the Senates priorities in the first quarter of 2014. — Patricia Denise Chiu/JDS, GMA News
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 08:23:15 +0000
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