[FYI in Sun.Star] Evardone blamed for 'death' of FOI bill

From http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2013/01/31/evardone-blamed-death-foi-bill-265763. 

The death of the freedom of information (FOI) bill in the House of Representatives can be blamed on the "legislative malpractice" of Eastern Samar Representative Ben Evardone, a youth group said Thursday.

"It was 'Doctor' Evardone who declared that the FOI Bill was 'dead' due to lack of time and quorum in the House of Representatives. However, it is clear that the main cause was 'legislative malpractice' on his part," Carlo Brolagda, convenor of the FOI Youth Initiative (FYI) said.

Evardone is the chairman of the House committee on public information.

The FOI bill languished in the committee level for more than a year before it was approved and transmitted to the plenary.

"He made us wait until the final months before the start of the 2013 elections, and made so many excuses like the absence of a Liberal Party position on the bill to the unavailability of a room to house the meeting," Brolagda said.

Due to lack of warm bodies in the plenary, Evardone and FOI main author Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III were only able to deliver their sponsorship speeches last Monday.

Tañada, for his part, said it was in Evardone's nature to raise the white flag on the FOI bill.

"I heard Ben is waiving the white flag. I guess it is his nature. The records of the committee and the history of the FOI will judge him," he said.  

While the FOI bill was being deliberated upon in his committee, Evardone himself was hesitant to approve the proposed consolidated FOI bill without a right of reply (ROR) provision.

The ROR provision will require media outfits to allot equal amount of space or airtime for public officials facing accusations from information gathered through the proposed FOI law.  

Tañada said he, along with the other authors of the bill, will push the FOI as far as they can in the present 15th Congress.

Tañada urged Evardone to delegate his authority – as chairman of the House committee on public information – to the authors of the FOI bill so that it can be debated upon in the plenary.

"If Representative Ben refuses to delegate his authority, then it becomes quite obvious to everyone that he also doesn't want FOI to be debated on the floor," he said.

For his part, Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat Jr. refused to say that the FOI bill is "dead."

"It's better to say it's in a state of anguish and hibernation and shall spring to life in the 16th Congress," Baguilat said in a text message.

Lawmakers who refused to be named earlier said it is Malacañang itself who does not want the FOI bill enacted into law. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex, 31 January 2013) 

[FYI in the Inquirer] FOI Bill good as dead; Evardone hit for ‘legislative malpractice’

From http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/350369/foi-bill-good-as-dead-evardone-hit-for-legislative-malpractice.

by Karen Boncocan (31 January 2012)

MANILA, Philippines — The Freedom of Information Bill is as good as dead in the House of Representatives with very little chance of moving on within the last three session days, its main sponsor said on Thursday.

Eastern Samar Representative said it was time to give up at this point and House Bill 6766 stood “very little chance” of hurdling discussions in plenary.

The bill has not made it past its sponsorship stage yet.

Evardone, the chairman of the House committee on public information, saw little time left to approve the bill in the 15th Congress.

They have only until Wednesday next week to finish work before the campaign period starts.

Lawmakers have earlier suspected that Malacañang did not want the bill passed but Evardone maintained that this information was “unfounded.”

“Malacañang cooperated with the committee in the crafting of the bill. There was no word that reached me that Malacañang is against it,” he said.

Youth advocates have meanwhile expressed disappointment over Evardone’s apparent “surrender.”

“It was ‘Doctor’ Evardone who declared that the FOI Bill was ‘dead’ due to lack of time and quorum in the House of Representatives. However, it is clear that the main cause was ‘legislative malpractice’ on his part,” said Carlo Brolagda, convenor of the FOI Youth Initiative.

“He made us wait until the final months before the start of the 2013 elections, and made so many excuses like the absence of a Liberal Party position on the bill to the unavailability of a room to house the meeting,” he said.

LETS CDC: Stop the delay! #SaveFOI!

Linking Everyone Towards Service - CDC UPLB is a 

partner organization of the FOI Youth Initiative (FYI).

UP ETC: No giving up on FOI! FOI NOW!

UP Economics Towards Consciousness (ETC) is a

partner organization of the FOI Youth Initiative (FYI).

UP ETC's Consciousness Caravan

Experience UP Ikot like no other! Read UP ETC's stands on different social issues such as Freedom of Information, Sin Tax, Reproductive Health, and Fraternity Related Violence through our Kamalayan Bites, available at our Consciousness Caravans (UP Ikot Jeeps) and different colleges around UP! The "Kamalayan" is the official publication of UP ETC, a tool for spreading consciousness on pressing social issues. Sakay na!

UP Economics Towards Consciousness (ETC) is a 

partner organization of the FOI Youth Initiative (FYI).

[FYI in PCIJ] The youth’s clamor: Pass FOI first, court votes later

From http://pcij.org/blog/2013/01/19/the-youths-clamor-passfoi-first-court-votes-later.

Let's hear it from the youth and students.

In a joint statement, leaders of 68 student councils and youth organizations across the nation urged the members of the House of Representatives to pass the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill before the 15th Congress takes another long recess on Feb. 8, 2013.

“FOI is our issue, too,” said Carlo Brolagda, co-convenor of the FOI Youth Initiative (FYI) and chairperson of the student council of University of the Philippines College of Social Sciences and Philosophy.

“We young people, who will eventually inherit this government, want institutionalized mechanisms for transparency and accountability of public officials and offices,” he said.

“Let our generation be defined not just by the laws passed during our youth, but more so by the actions that we have undertaken to ensure that they are enacted.”

The FOI Youth Initiative (FYI), called on Congress to “cement its reputation as the House of the People that has successfully enacted relevant progressive legislation for the rights and welfare of Filipinos.”

A member of the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition, FYI said lawmakers should keep the momentum for reform laws going. “Failing to pass the FOI Bill would make the House fall short of fully gaining the trust of the people in its winning streak of passing long-awaited laws,” FYI said.

Citing that the Senate has done its part by finally approving the FOI bill on third and final reading last December, Brolagda said, “we believe that it isn’t too much to ask for the House to do the same before the 15th Congress ends and before many of its members go on campaign mode for the elections.”

“Aside from possible problems in House members’ attendance, we also have to deal with legislators who are adamant in having an anti-press freedom Right of Reply provision in the bill,” Brolagda said. “Some are misled into thinking that the FOI Law will only cater to the media. They are completely mistaken because this measure will benefit all citizens.”

Meanwhile, FYI co-convenor Chris Alquizalas, councilor of the UP College of Social Science and Philosophy student council, called on his fellow young leaders to help in lobbying for the bill by engaging their Representatives in Congress.

“We have to make them realize that FOI is our issue, too. We young people, who will eventually inherit this government, want institutionalized mechanisms for transparency and accountability of public officials and offices,” said Alquizalas.

“Let our generation be defined not just by the laws passed during our youth, but more so by the actions that we have undertaken to ensure that they are enacted.”

The FYI said it supports the call of the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition for President Aquino and the House leadership to certify the FOI Bill as urgent. The group promised to be watchful of the proceedings in the House as it winds down towards adjournment before the 2013 elections.

The FOI Youth Initiative is composed of the following student councils and youth organizations: (see full list)

[FYI in Manila Standard Today] Congress scrambles to pass priority bills

From http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/01/19/congress-scrambles-to-pass-priority-bills/.

With only nine session days left before Congress adjourns on Feb. 9, the House and the Senate are scrambling to tackle several priority measures, especially the Freedom of Information Bill, for the third and last session of the 15th Congress.

Proponents and supports of the FOI Bill on Friday held a press conference to push for the measure, which was already passed on third reading at the Senate but has yet to gain ground at the House.

The group was led by the bill’s  author, Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III, along with Bishop Broderick Pabillo of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, professor Luis Teodoro of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Ana Maria Nemenzo of the WomenHealth Philippines, lawyer Nepomuceno Malaluan of the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition, Carlo Brolagda of FOI Youth Initiative and Juned Sunido of the Netizens of the Philippines.

Tanada urged his fellow lawmakers to vote for the FOI bill,  saying that there was still enough time to take up the measure before Congress adjourns to give way to the May 13 elections.

“Each representative must ask himself or herself where does   he or she stand on the issue of the FOI measure,” Tanada said.

He added that the measure should cross party lines.

“If Congress believes in good governance and accountability, it is our responsibility to attend the session, instead of waiting for instruction from our respective parties,” he said.

Tañada said he will ask House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte to allow the bill’s authors to deliver their sponsorship speech on Monday.

“We all know that a Monday session is always devoted to a day for privilege speeches, and that based on experience, the House has always experienced a problem in the quorum. (So) I will have to ask the Speaker to give us some leniency on the policy of quorum while deliberation is ongoing.”

The Senate passed on third and final reading the FOI bill as well as the version submitted by the House committee on public information.

Belmonte, meanwhile, said he and other House leaders will meet with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile over the weekend to discuss the FOI and other priority measures.

Belmonte underscored the need to “to harmonize” bills to be passed with the Senate to ensure that these would reach the desk of President Benigno Aquino III.

“Communication between the two chambers is important at this point,” Belmonte said as he vowed to muster a quorum during the remaining session days,” Bemonte said

He said the Lower House was all set for the resumption of session on Monday, Jan. 21.

[FYI in the Philippine Star] Groups press House to pass FOI bill

From http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/01/19/898617/groups-press-house-pass-foi-bill.

MANILA, Philippines - Various youth organizations yesterday called on members of the House of Representatives to pass the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill before sessions end on Feb. 9 to give way to the campaign period for the 2013 midterm elections.

The FOI Youth Initiative (FYI), composed of 68 youth organizations nationwide, urged lawmakers to “cement its reputation as the House of the People that has successfully enacted relevant progressive legislation for the rights and welfare of Filipinos.”

“They shouldn’t stop now,” Carlo Brolagda, one of the convenors of the FYI, said.

Brolagda said that “the House will fall short of fully gaining the people’s trust if they fail to pass the FOI bill.”

The FYI is a member of the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition, an alliance of FOI advocates.

“The Senate has done its part by finally approving the measure. We believe that it isn’t too much to ask for the House to do the same before the 15th Congress ends and before many of its members go on campaign mode for the elections,” Brolagda said.

He said the FOI, if passed into law, “will go beyond being an anti-corruption tool because ultimately, it is a way to catalyze participatory governance.”

Chris Alquizalas, another convenor of FYI, encouraged young Filipinos to help in lobbying for the bill by engaging their representatives in Congress.

“We have to make them realize that FOI is our issue too. We, young people, who will eventually inherit this government, want institutionalized mechanisms for transparency and accountability of public officials and offices,” Alquizalas said.

The FYI urged President Aquino to certify the measure as urgent.

The group said they will closely watch the proceedings in the House until its last session day on Feb. 8. (by Helen Flores)

[FYI in the Inquirer] House urged anew: Pass information bill

From http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/342757/house-urged-anew-pass-information-bill.

Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition
press conference with House champions.

MANILA, Philippines—Youth advocates seeking transparency in  government urged Friday the House of Representatives to pass the Freedom of Information Bill.

In a statement, members of some 68 youth groups organized under the FOI Youth Initiative (FYI) called on the lower chamber of the 15th Congress to “cement its reputation as the ‘House of the People’ that has successfully enacted relevant progressive legislation for the rights and welfare of Filipinos.”

While the Senate has approved the FOI Bill, the House of Representatives has yet to deliberate at the plenary on its own version of the measure.

And with only nine days left to pass bills, the youth groups said that House members pushing for the contentious measure  “shouldn’t stop now.”

Carlo Brolagda, one of FYI’s convenors, said that “failing to pass the FOI Bill would make the House fall short of fully gaining the trust of the people in its winning streak of passing long-awaited laws.”

The 15th Congress’ third regular session was deemed historic by its members for having passed several contentious measures like the Sin Tax and Reproductive Health Bills. Both have been enacted into laws last year.

“The Senate has done its part by finally approving the measure. We believe that it isn’t too much to ask for the House to do the same before the 15th Congress ends and before many of its members go on campaign mode for the elections,” said Brolagda.

Chris Alquizalas, also an FYI convenor, urged fellow youth leaders to lobby for the FOI Bill and make legislators understand “that FOI is our issue, too.”

“We young people, who will eventually inherit this government, want institutionalized mechanisms for transparency and accountability of public officials and offices,” said Alquizalas.

The FOI Bill is set to be introduced at the plenary once session resumes on Monday. Its main proponent, Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, seeks to have it debated on after they are through with the sponsorship speeches.

Worried about the possibility of the FOI Bill facing the issue of lack of quorum during the last session days, Tañada has earlier called on fellow lawmakers to remember their responsibilities and duties as members of the House and attend session.

Brolagda urged lawmakers to approve the FOI Bill, vowing to monitor the measure’s progress throughout the last nine session days.

With 9 session days left, youth groups strengthen call for FOI passage

With only nine days left remaining for the House of Representatives to conduct its sessions, youth groups reiterated their call for the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill.

The FOI Youth Initiative (FYI), which has now grown to 68 youth organizations from all over the country, called on the Congress to “cement its reputation as the House of the People that has successfully enacted relevant progressive legislation for the rights and welfare of Filipinos.” The youth network is a member organization of the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition, a broad alliance of FOI advocates from various sectors of society.

“They shouldn’t stop now,” said Carlo Brolagda, Chairperson of the UPD CSSP Student Council and one of the convenors of the FYI. “Failing to pass the FOI Bill would make the House fall short of fully gaining the trust of the people in its winning streak of passing long-awaited laws.”

“The Senate has done its part by finally approving the measure. We believe that it isn’t too much to ask for the House to do the same before the 15th Congress ends and before many of its members go on campaign mode for the elections,” said Brolagda.

He added that “aside from possible problems in House members’ attendance, we also have to deal with legislators who are adamant in having an anti-press freedom Right of Reply provision in the bill. Some are misled into thinking that the FOI Law will only cater to the media. They are completely mistaken because this measure will benefit all citizens.” Moreover, Brolagda said that the FOI Law “will go beyond being an anti-corruption tool because ultimately, it is a way to catalyze partcipatory governance.”

UPD CSSPSC Councilor and FYI convenor Chris Alquizalas called on his fellow young leaders to help in lobbying for the bill by engaging their Representatives in Congress.

“We have to make them realize that FOI is our issue, too. We young people, who will eventually inherit this government, want institutionalized mechanisms for transparency and accountability of public officials and offices,” said Alquizalas. “Let our generation be defined not just by the laws passed during our youth, but more so by the actions that we have undertaken to ensure that they are enacted.”

The FYI is one with the call of the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition for the President and House leadership to certify the FOI Bill as urgent. The group promised to be watchful of the proceedings in the House as it winds down towards adjournment before the 2013 elections.