The highly-anticipated and proposed Freedom of Information (FOI) bill was approved on Wednesday, September 18, by a joint panel in the Senate of the Philippines after holding two hearings.
No. 1 Senator in the recent Philippine General Election, Sen. Grace Poe, head of the committee on public information stated that they were “determined” to submit its report on the floor on September 24, 2013. The newly-elected senator sponsor the FOI bill for plenary debates on September 25 and she hopes that the approval will be given by the chamber within the year.
According to the Senate Record, the first hearing of the FOI Bill was held by the committees on public information, civil service, and finance last September 4, the second and final hearing was conducted today, September 18 starting at around 10:00 AM.
Before the start of the hearing on Wednesday morning, Senator Grace Poe was quoted as saying that, “In our committee, one thing is clear—it is important now to enact into law the Freedom of Information or FOI bill,” Sen. Poe said in Filipino.
The 45-year-old Senator Poe, added further that, “With this law, we can give every Filipino a chance and the power to actively participate in monitoring how the government spends public’s money,” she said.
The Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) was approved in the Senate during the last Congress but failed to get the same approval at the Lower House or the House of Representatives.
