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MAY-JUNE 200
HE FREEDOM of Information (FOI) Acta reconciled version of the Senate and House versions died in the final day of the 14th Congress, after being approved by the bicameral conference committee and ratified by the Senate in February of this year.
It was the farthest the bill had gone since the first version was filed in 1992. Widely expected to pass, among other reasons because of assurances to that effect by House Speaker Prospero Nograles and Malacaangs claim that it was supporting it, the bill can be reintroduced in the 15th Congressbut it will have to start from square one. To help speed it along, the advocates of the FOI Act have asked the next president to help realize the passage into law of the longdelayed bill thats meant to help ensure transparency and accountability in governance. President-elect Benigno Simeon Noynoy Aquino III, who was among the senators who voted for the Senate Bill 3308, the Senate version of the bill, responded by promising to make congressional passage of the FOI bill a priority of his legislative agenda once he assumes office this July.
Nograles had practically promised passage of bill. But the House failed to even hold a separate session last May 31 during which it could act on pending legislation, arguing that the lawmakers should concentrate on the national canvassing for president and vice president instead. The June 4 session was the
nly 128 out of the 267 representatives in the lower house attended the June 4 session. the rest had taken an early vacation or were busy in their new postsor deliberately stayed away to kill the Freedom of information (Foi) bill. the following are the representatives who were either absent or did not respond to the roll call in the last session of the house of Representatives. the list came from house Speaker Prospero nograles. highlighted in bold letters are the congressmen who were among the more than 180 co-sponsors of the Foi act. 1. abaya, Joseph emilio a. 2. agbayani, Victor aguedo e. 3. agyao, Manuel S. 4. Albano, Rodolfo III T. 5. Alcover Pastor Jr. M 6. almario, thelma Z. 7. alvarez, antonio c. 8. Amante, Edelmiro A. 9. amatong, Rommel c. 10. angping, Maria Zenaida b.
MAY-JUNE 200
2005
2006
April 2008
111. Romarate, guillermo Jr. a. 112. Romualdez, Ferdinand Martin g. 113. Romulo, Roman t. 114. Roxas, Jose Antonio F. 115. Salvacion, andres Jr., d. 116. Santiago, narciso iii d. 117. Santos, Estrella DL. 118. Sarmiento, Ulpiano II P. 119. Seachon-lanete, Rizalina l. 120. Singson, Ronald V. 121. Solis, Jose G. 122. Suarez, danilo e. 123. Sy-Alvarado, Ma. Victoria R. 124. Talino-Mendoza, Emmylou J. 125. Tan, Sharee Ann T. 126. teodoro, Marcelino R. 127. teves, Pryde henry a. 128. tieng, irwin c. 129. Tomawis, Acmad 130. Tupas, Niel Jr. C. 131. Umali, Czarina D. 132. uy, edwin c. 133. uy, Rolando a. 134. uy, Reynaldo S. 135. Valdez, edgar l.
136. Villar, cynthia a. 137. Villarosa, Ma. amelita c. 138. yu, Victor l. 139. Zamora, Ronaldo b. however, Senior deputy Majority leader neptali gonzales ii with Representatives Mujiv hataman of anak Mindanao, arthur Pingoy, Jr. of South cotabato and Jack duavit of Rizal said that they were present in the plenary hall during the roll call but were not recognized by the secretary-general. Representatives Magtanggol gunigundo of Valenzuela, Jovito Palparan of bantay Party-list, Pablo garcia of cebu and oscar Malapitan of caloocan, also claimed they were among those who were in the plenary hall during the roll call. Some of them were even caught on video by media covering the session. adding these eight legislators to the 128 recorded present during the roll call would meet the required number of warm bodies for a quorum. n
May 6 2008 May 12, 2008 May 27, 2009 June 3, 2009 Dec. 7, 2009 Dec. 14, 2009 Jan. 18, 2010 Jan. 20, 2010 Feb. 1, 2010 Feb. 3, 2010 June 4, 2010
June 5, 2010
Sources: Inquirer.net Philstar.com gManews.tV congress.gov.ph Minimalgovernment.net aer.ph ansa-eap. net PJR Reports September 2006 access to information network Right to Know, Right now! campaign