FYI at the Senate with the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition

Revee Rapallo, Walter Tamayo, and Chris Alquizalas
of the FYI with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.

Today, the FOI Youth Initiative (FYI) went to the Senate with the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition for a meeting with Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, one of our Freedom of Information champions. Sen. Cayetano informed the members of the Coalition present that he was ready to deliver his sponsorship speech for their version of the FOI in the Senate, which was nicknamed the "People's Ownership of Government Information (POGI) Bill." 

The Senator expressed his concern to include "Freedom of Information" as part of the title of the measure since this is its internationally accepted identification. 

However, Sen. Cayetano mentioned that the more important matter at hand is not the title, but the content of the proposed law. The Senator was also asked about what he thinks will happen to the FOI Bill in the Senate. He answered, "Right now, I can't tell you any reason na hindi maipapasa ito."

After the meeting, members of the FYI sent copies of the manifesto supporting the passage of the Freedom of Information Law signed by its various partner organizations to the offices of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Gregorio Honasan, Chair of the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media. 

In the letters accompanying the manifesto, the FYI appealed to the Senators "to be one with our call for transparency and accountability by pushing for the immediate passage of the FOI Law."