(Editor’s Note: The radio guesting of Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan, lead convenor of the Right to Know, Right Now! network and the Access to Information Network, was held on January 11, exactly a week before the 14^th Congress resumed session. Through effective lobby work and advocacy of civil society groups, the Senate ratified on February 1 the Freedom of Information bill. But on February 4, the House of Representatives adjourned without passing it and other important measures, thereby receiving flak from civil society organizations and media institutions clamoring for transparency.)

A coalition of lawyers, workers, journalists, farmers, religious leaders and advocates for transparency pressed on the 14^th Congress to pass the Freedom of Information bill when it resumes session on January 18 and immediately adjourns February 5 to pave way for the elections.

“It is in the hands of Speaker Prospero Nograles to support and pass the bill, which ensures our constitutional right to public information,” said Nepomuceno Malaluan, lead convenor of the Access to Information Network (ATIN) and the Right to Know Right Now (R2KRN), in a live radio interview with anchors Gerry Baja and Anthony Taberna over dzMM’s Dos Por Dos program January 11.

Malaluan said the Freedom of Information bill, which the groups have already lobbied for since the 11^th Congress, is crucial because it will provide a standard and definite procedure in dealing with requests for information. Requests submitted personally, by mail, or through electronic means, for instance, need to be complied with by government agencies in seven days, Malaluan said.

“We’re looking for commitment from the House leadership, which we have not found in Nograles’ recent statements,” Malaluan said. In recent news reports, Nograles announced 16 priority bills in the bicameral conference – but the Freedom of Information bill was not among them.

Only nine session days are left between January 18 and February 5 to hold the bicameral conference and approve the bill. After which, the Congress adjourns to give way to the national elections and resumes session on May 31, only for the proclamation of the new president.

Malaluan announced the groups’ series of activities to intensify calls for the passage of the bill. These include the simultaneous press conferences in Manila and Davao on January 18, when Congress resumes session. On the afternoon on the same day, R2KRN and ATIN members would hold picket rally in front of the House of Representatives along Batasan in Quezon City and seek audience with legislators.

When asked of the groups’ main calls to Nograles and legislators, Malaluan said: “We call on Speaker Nograles to lead the House to fully adopt the Senate version of the FOI bill to ensure its passage, or at the very least name the House representatives to the bicameral conference committee and immediately convene the same.”

Both houses of Congress already passed the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill on third reading (the House of Representatives in May 2009 and the Senate in December 2009), and now only awaits approval in the bicameral conference to become a final legislative act of Congress.

Malaluan also appealed to the public to support their actions for this bill. “Freedom of information will empower us all to plant seeds of irreversible governance reform in our country.”