Aglipay said at a youth forum on the FOI bill that she’s happy with Almonte’s performance as committee chair in recent months because he has become amenable to holding technical working group (TWG) meetings on a frequent basis.
“I used to call him the biggest hurdle to the passage of FOI bill but it’s a different story now… The fact that we’ve been holding TWG meetings regularly, I think that’s a very positive development. I commend the chairperson for that,” she said.
Last January, Aglipay criticized Almonte for failing to set meetings for the consolidation of the various FOI bills filed at the 16th Congress. The TWG needs to consolidate at least 24 FOI bills.
In October last year, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat offered to chair the TWG in case Almonte was too busy, but Almonte insisted he can handle the TWG himself.
The TWG met for the first time on February 6. It has yet to come up with a consolidated version of the FOI bill.
Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat said the group recently finished discussing the contentious provisions in Section 7 of the proposed consolidated FOI measure, which list the exemptions to the public access of information.
He said discussion on the bill is expected to speed up once the debates on Section 7 ends.
For plenary discussion soon?
Aglipay said Almonte can improve the conduct of TWG meetings by staying in control of the discussion and making sure it doesn’t get bogged down by talk on minute details.
Earlier during the forum, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo said she is frustrated at parties whom she said slow down the debates on the FOI bill by focusing on technical matters.
“Hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit sa TWG meeting, mayroong kumukwestyon line by line [ng bill]. Sa aking palagay, deliberate na iyon na either ayaw nilang maipasa ‘yung bill o gusto nila maging mabagal ang pagpasa ng bill,” she said.
Despite the slow pace of the proposal in the House panel, Baguilat and Robredo are optimistic it will be passed before President Benigno Aquino III’s term ends in 2016.
“A lot of us [in the House] are now looking for ways to arrive at a consensus on the FOI bill just so it would be passed unlike dati (15th Congress) na parang maraming deadma (indifferent) sa bill,” Robredo said.
Baguilat said he wants the proposal to be approved at the committee level soon so it can be tackled in the plenary by September or October.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has vowed that the FOI bill will be passed in the lower chamber during the 16th Congress.
The House “killed” the FOI bill at the plenary in the 15th Congress at the last minute even though senators managed to pass a counterpart bill on third reading.
The Senate’s latest version of the FOI bill was approved last March. — JDS, GMA News
