Coloma: Congress may pass FOI bill even without Palace draft

Congress may pass its version of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill even without Malacañang’s final draft of the measure, a Palace official said Tuesday. Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said Malacañang “will honor" the legislative process should Congress decide to push through with the passage of the FOI bill even without the executive branch’s inputs. “We duly respect the legislature as a separate and co-equal branch. We certainly do not want to impede or delay your proceedings in any way," he said during his office’s budget briefing at the House of Representatives. He added that he thinks President Benigno Aquino III would not mind having the bill passed without Malacañang’s version since the administration is “working in a manner that will lead to the eventual enactment of such legislation." “Let me just point out that the President simply wanted to get inputs from all departments in the executive branch, and all the national government agencies that will be affected by the provisions of such a measure," Coloma said. Aquino earlier said that a Cabinet technical working group, which includes Coloma, is currently working on their final draft of the FOI bill. He said the Palace wanted “minor points" in the bill — such as national security — to be resolved before it is recommended to Congress for approval. Congress can’t wait Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño said the executive branch should not make Congress wait any longer since Aquino has been in office for more than a year. “Hindi naman ho sigurong pwede na we will be held hostage by the executive. It’s been a year," he told Coloma during the budget briefing. He added that it might be better for Malacañang to just push for amendments of the FOI bill in the Senate, since the lower chamber’s version of the measure, House Bill 53, has been pending in the committee level for so long. Casiño, however, admitted that some of his colleagues are still waiting for Malacañang’s “go signal" before they support the FOI bill, which seeks to make the constitutional right to know and the state policy of full disclosure of transactions involving public interest operable. “I just want the proper signal from Malacañang kasi some of the President’s allies here, naninimbang po e. Hindi po namin maitulak kasi hinihintay po ‘yung go signal from Malacañang," he said. During the last Congress, the House of Representatives failed to ratify the FOI bill due to lack of quorum. The measure has been pending in Congress for a decade. Lawmakers have vowed to start plenary discussions on the measure by September. Two versions of the bill are currently pending committee approval in Congress—House Bill 53 and Senate Bill 11. — KBK, GMA News