Palace urged to certify Freedom of Information bill as urgent

Senate Minority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano urged the Aquino administration to certify as urgent the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill — a landmark piece of legislation that will lift the shroud of secrecy over government transactions and data. "I am urging the President to certify as urgent the FOI bill as the first bill he will certify as urgent," Cayetano, one of the proponents of the bill, said after the hearing on the 15 freedom of information bills on Thursday. The FOI bill was not passed during the previous 14th Congress after the House of Representatives failed to ratify it before session adjourned. In the 15th Congress, 15 bills concerning freedom of information were refiled at the Senate. Cayetano said with the passage of this bill, 50 percent of corruption would be solved. "This will become a deterrent. If there are people in government who are planning something bad, they will be more afraid to do it," he said. He likewise said the Aquino administration has nothing to fear because it is just new, adding that only past regimes like the Arroyo administration should fear its passage. Aquino had earlier said that the FOI bill will be a priority of his administration. Executive Secretary Herminio "Sonny" Coloma, Jr. likewise agreed that transactions imbued with public interest, especially those involving public funds, must be transparent and "beyond any cloud of doubt." He noted, however, that "adequate safeguards" must be placed on the release of information and that they must take into consideration the deluge of requests that might flood governement agencies. "We trust that out legislators will be able to craft a new law that is founded on a broad-based consensus and responsve to the needs of the times," he said. Cayetano, meanwhile, said maybe Aquino can temporarily issue an executive order that would require transparency and accountability from government agencies. - VVP, GMANews.TV