DESPITE ITS IMPORTANCE, the long-delayed Freedom of Information bill isn’t the most popular measure in the House of Representatives, at least if one goes by the number of years the bill has stewed in the lower chamber.
Now, it seems, even the leadership of the House committee tasked with shepherding the bill through the legislative mill has become an unpopular job as well.
Television network TV5′s online news portal Interaksyon reports that while other legislators scrambled to grab the leadership of juicy House committees, the position of chairperson of the House Committee on Public Information has not yet been filled up.
In its story, Interaksyon asks if the FOI bill, “or more accurately, Malacanang’s perceived apathy toward it, (has) made members of the House of Representatives wary of chairing the public information committee.”
The Interaksyon story quoted at least one legislator as saying that no one wants to handle the committee because of the controversial FOI bill. Interestingly, advocates of the FOI bill say that several progressive legislators have expressed interest in chairing the committee; unfortunately, these legislators do not appear to be in the list of preferred chairpersons prepared by the House leadership.
On the other hand, those legislators being eyed by the House leadership as potential chairpersons would rather stay away from the public information committee.
Many legislators have been blocking passage of the FOI bill, saying the measure encourages more abuses by members of the media. Legislators have also pointed to the apparent lack of interest by President Benigno S. Aquino III in the FOI bill, despite his earlier campaign promise to endorse it to Congress.
Read the full Interaksyon story here.