Palace: FOI bill may yet be prioritized later this year

Malacañang on Saturday said the Freedom of Information bill may yet be certified a priority measure of the Aquino administration – but not necessarily by end-February. Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte hinted the FOI bill, which she said the Palace is still “studying," may be considered part of the legislative agenda later this year. “Ang (sa) atin, time must be allotted to study kung ano ang concerns ng pangulo at executive pagdating sa panukalang ito," Valte said on government-run dzRB radio. (Our concern is that time must be allotted to study the concerns of the President and the executive department about this proposed measure.) “The DOJ has already formed a panel to study restrictions as embodied in the FOI bill. Makikipag-coordinate ang panel [The panel will coordinate] with FOI advocates in Congress to see ano pa yung magiging resulta ng pag-aaral nila [what else the results of their study might be]," she added. Valte said if the study on the FOI bill cannot be completed in time to be included in the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting on Feb. 28, it may yet be included in the next meeting for the second quarter of 2011, pointing out that the LEDAC meets four times a year. The FOI bill ensures that citizens get access to information held by government offices. “Gusto ko lang sabihin di ito magiging una at huling LEDAC meeting. Every three months ito titingnan natin kung tapos ang masusing pagaaral di lang sa bill na ito kundi sa ibang panukalang tinutulak ng pangulo sa priority measures," she said. (I want to emphasize that this won’t be the first and last LEDAC meeting. It’s convened every three months, so we’ll see after the thorough study is finished, not just on the FOI bill but also other bills being pushed by the President as priority measures.) LEDAC is composed of the President as chairman, the Vice President, the Senate President, the House Speaker, seven Cabinet members, three senators, three House members, and one representative each from the local government, the youth, and the private sector. It helps the President integrate his or her legislative agenda with the national development plan, as a consultative and advisory body. Aquino earlier said he is uncomfortable with certain types of “raw information" being made public, even as he insisted his administration remains transparent.—JV, GMA News