R2KRN STATEMENT: House FOI Committee Report Filed!
THE RIGHT TO KNOW, RIGHT NOW! COALITION
Congress Action on FOI Tracker # 3 (Visit http://i-foi.org)
May 25, 2015
ON MAY 25, 2015 the House Committee on Public Information filed the Committee Report on FOI.
We now have the numbered committee report and substitute FOI bill: Committee Report No. 746 and House Bill No. 5801.
The next step will be for the Second Reading and Debate on the FOI Bill in plenary. As we noted in our FOI Tracker # 2, we have reached the critical stage where high prioritization by the leadership of Congress and by President Aquino is imperative for FOI to finally pass.
For the moment, however, we pause to recognize the hard work that allowed the bill to advance to this stage. We thank Committee Chairperson Rep. Jorge Almonte, the House FOI champions and authors across political parties coordinated by Rep. Teddy Baguilat and Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, key administration allies in Congress led by Deputy Speaker Henedina Abad and Rep. Leni Robredo, and all their legislative officers as well as the staff of the Committee Secretariat. Pushing the bill through the committee process was not easy; it entailed a lot of committed work, strategizing and execution.
The FOI Tracker rating moves up to 75, the threshold of the Green Zone. With the limited time left, we still hope that the bill will be sponsored, and interpellation started, before the Congress recess on June 12. This will move FOI back into the Green Zone.