No quorum kills freedom of info bill
by Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
The House of Representatives accomplished nothing on its last session day Friday, but claims of deceit, threats of arrest and declarations of outrage flew fast and furious.
Declared seven short of a quorum, the House adjourned without ratifying the freedom of information (FOI) bill—a landmark piece of legislation that would have lifted the shroud of secrecy over government transactions and data.
Ratification was to have been the last step before the nine-year-old bill is submitted to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for her signature.
The proponents of the bill tried vainly to save it, even invoking a House rule that allows the arrest of lawmakers. Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante were surprised at the lack of a quorum and said they were assured that 142 lawmakers were present before the roll was called.
Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño said the proceedings were “a disgrace” as well as “a fitting end to a Congress that, for the last three years, has zealously protected the President and her minions from being held accountable for their crimes against the people.”
An incensed Abante lashed out at Speaker Prospero Nograles for declaring a lack of a quorum, saying the session was a “a sad, painful day for all of us.”
Shouting at the top of his voice, Abante defended the FOI bill. He declared that if Congress was going to act that way, “I want out of this Congress!”
Nograles had insisted that only those in the session hall should be counted, and that without a quorum, the House could not transact business.
Tañada found Nograles’ statement suspicious, saying some of his colleagues were walking in and out of the session hall.
“It seems they deliberately called the roll when there was no quorum,” he said.
Romualdo’s objection
The FOI bill was the first measure read on the floor by Majority Floor Leader Arthur Defensor. But Lakas-Kampi stalwart, Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo, immediately objected.
Nograles suspended the session and lawmakers conferred with Romualdo.
When the session resumed, Romualdo stuck to his objection, saying he was questioning the quorum as a matter of principle.
He said that if lawmakers were interested in passing the bill, they would have attended the session. He complained that no debate even marked its passage.
“We want all transactions in the government to be very transparent. However, Mr. Speaker, it should be based on a law that was properly, legitimately, legally enacted,” Romualdo said.
He said Nograles had implored him “on bended knees” to reconsider his objection but that he refused.
The roll was called after Romualdo’s speech, and only 128 out of 268 lawmakers were recorded as present.
Cibac Rep. Joel Villanueva invoked Section 74 of the House rules allowing the chamber to compel the members’ attendance at the session and to close the session hall’s doors so that nobody would leave.
“We are the people’s representatives, Mr. Speaker. This is the House of the people… we can’t even do our job,” Villanueva said.
Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros seconded Villanueva’s call and pointed out that even Malacañang had called on Congress to pass the FOI bill.
Compostela Valley Rep. Manuel Zamora offered to help arrest his truant colleagues. But Nograles did not bite.
No questions
Villanueva contested Romualdo’s claim that there was no debate on the FOI bill, saying it would not have reached the plenary if this were true.
Abante said that when the bill was presented to the floor for interpellation, no one rose to question it.
He added: “This chamber has approved certain bills or measures without going through heated debates. It does not mean because a measure hasn’t been passed by scrutiny or debate, we have become undemocratic.”
Abante later told reporters that Nograles had prevailed on him to let the House leaders make the motion to ratify the FOI bill. He said this had assured him that the bill would be passed.
He said he was also asked to make a manifestation that the bill would have no retroactive effect.
In a statement he issued through his media officer after the adjournment, Nograles said: “I did my best. But I guess my best wasn’t good enough. I did not expect this to happen, especially because many of the authors were not present. The authors and coauthors would have been enough to sustain the quorum and we were not remiss in requesting their presence.”
But Malou Mangahas of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism said: “What we buried today is not the FOI act. It can still live because it can be refiled; it is a part of the democracy that we cherish. What we buried today is Speaker Nograles and the 14th Congress because they reneged on their duty.”
Powerful forces
The Senate passed a resolution early this week calling on the House to approve the FOI bill.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said he would sponsor the bill in the next Congress.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who chairs the Senate committee on public information and mass media and who authored the FOI version in the Senate, said the failure of the House to approve the measure was “a big disappointment and a big blow to graftbusters.”
“Some powerful forces are still out there to prevent a constitutional right,” said Cayetano, who added that he was committed to pass the same measure in the next Congress.
He also said the incoming administration could “issue an executive order directing the agencies to share information needed by any individual.”
Offering to society
In Malacañang, Press Undersecretary Rogelio Peyuan said lawmakers should refile the FOI bill in the next Congress.
“We hope that lawmakers may see the light when they open the 15th Congress. We expect that they will immediately attend to this bill once refiled because there’s nothing better we can offer society but the passage of the bill,” Peyuan said in a statement.
He added that contrary to reports, the Palace had been very supportive of the bill and its passage.
But according Bayan Muna’s Casiño, “it was obvious from the start that the House leadership and Malacañang frowned upon the FOI bill because they feared it would be used to hold them accountable for their corruption.”
The bill requires all government officials to make public all state records and their own statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, especially when the public interest demands it.
It is intended to promote transparency and good governance and to help the public make informed choices.
The public, and not just the media, may invoke its right to government information. With reports from Christine O. Avendaño and TJ Burgonio
I doubt it if the next congress, the 15th will pass this bill. Takot lang nila na halukayin ng media at ng taong bayan ang kanilang baho. A big challenge to President Noynoy. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
As expected, those lawmakers are next to useless. After getting their pork, they would not work anymore.
Pathetic!
those who live with betrayal will perish by it …………
betrayal is the weapon of satan to promote evils , like Judas who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and hanged himself, betrayal is the sign of evil in a person, a community and a nation controlled by satan……
betrayal is a symbol of cowardice and weakness of a person, gma’s dying regime was filled with this kind from top to bottom, this is the one single evil that destroys the fiber of a nation
This bill will provide the tool for people who wants to minimize if not eradicate corruption. I am still hoping that this would be “refiled” and subsequently passed.
14th Congress is such a letdown, that the Filipino people wasted so much time and money on this clowns. Money can be recouped but time wasted, we can not have them back, unless this clowns have invented a time machine we are not aware of.
In 1974, Hong Kong established the Independent Commission Against Corruption, an institution established to rid the government of corruption. Then Gov. MacLehose made the right decision. Taking corruption in Hong Kong head on, former Police Commissioner Peter Goderd was brought back to the former British Colony to answer the charges against him. They (ICAC) succeeded. Present time Hong Kong have high respects for the ICAC and they fear them as well, knowing that this institution would not leave any stoned unturned to get the truth out and punish those who have usurped their position and enriching themselves in the process. Voila! Hong Kong, from being one of the most corrupt government has succeeded in eradicating corruption.
Here’s wishing that the Philippines would find the strenght and heart to finally “kill” this monster with multiple heads.
Maybe, just maybe, the FOI will get a chance to see daylight in the next Congress since GMA will be one of the members of the Institution and she just said that though she is Older, she believes she is much, much more “wiser”..whatever that means, remains to be seen, would it be a different GMA or worse?
gloria gone older and much wiser?
If so, she should retire from politics and face all charges against her being wise.
Brazen!
Murder of the FOI. Bastos yang mga kongresista na hindi umattend ng quorum. 268 sila, hindi makabuo ng quorum. Laking tuwa ko lang pag tinanggalan ng pork ang mga animales na yan. Hindi naman napupunta ang pork sa taong bayan eh, kungdi sa bulsa lang nila.
Walang kwenta ang 14th Congress at si Nograles. Tuta lahat ni Arroyo. Dapat sisantehin ang mga yan, tutal taxes naman natin ang pampasahod sa mga tamad na yan.
“…….Cayetano, former Senate Blue Ribbon committee chairman who initiated the NBN-ZTE inquiry, said the Office of the Ombudsman had not given due attention to overwhelming testimonial evidence.
“When there is an overwhelming evidence of corruption committed by government officials, the last thing that the citizens would like to hear is some high-ranking officials being cleared from the charges of corruption related to this scandalous contract,” he said.”
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=581469&publicationSubCategoryId=63
Inutil! Pumapapel ka lang!
Naging chairman ng Blue Ribbon Committee subalit hanggang porma lamang at ngawa ang ginawa. Walang accomplishment. Walang bayag.
Sayang lamang ang boto namin sa iyo!
@MPRivera:
KOREK. May umeextra bulate na naman! At si Cayetano na naman!
“Walang kwenta ang 14th Congress at si Nograles. Tuta lahat ni Arroyo.” – Silver
The sad thing is, karamihan sa mga kongresman na yan ay reelected at makikita nanaman ulit ang mga yan sa 15th congress.
Listahan ng mga pangalan ng mga indyanero sa congress!!!
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/192738/listahan-ng-kongresistang-di-sumipot-sa-plenaryo-inilabas-ni-nograles
Mike,
Yan ang kalunos-lunos na pangyayari. Tsk. Tapos samahan pa ng Arroyo Inc. sa kongreso. Tsk. Tsk.
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=581471&publicationSubCategoryId=63
Wawawaw!
Ang mga kagalanggalang na mambabatas, ganyan la’ang ba ang ginagawa sa tonggreso?
Daang milyong pork barrel, muta at panis na laway la’ang pala ang katapat?
‘Yan ba ang halimbawa ng mga ibinoto’t pinagkatiwalaan ng mamamayang kakatawa sa kanila?
Hooooyyyyyy! Gissseeeeeennnnngggg!!!
Pagpasensiyahan na lang natin at nagkaroon tayo ng isang Speaker (Nograles) na walang kuwenta. Nakapagtataka kung bakit nakarating sa posisyon na yan … pagka-Mayor nga ni hindi manalo. Ni baka Baranggay Kapteyn ni hindi pa lulusot yan. Iyakin pa!!! Puweeee!!!!!!!
Where were the members of Congress daw? On holiday? They should be penalised for not attending.
Anna, some of them I heard were within the building, they just didn’t show up their faces in the session hall.
that’s another conspiracy plain and simple to fool the people again …..
binabayaran natin sila,nagnanakaw pa sila.para umunlad ang ating bayan,dapat husgahan na ng taong bayan ang mga magnanakaw sa gobierno.pagmagnanakaw,barilin na!
Statement of the National Union of the Journalists of the Philippines:
The Filipino people should remember well the leadership of the House of Representatives of the 14th Congress who betrayed their mandate and democracy by killing the Freedom of Information bill.
The travesty in the House session hall on June 4, 2010 was clear proof that outgoing Speaker Prospero Nograles had never had any intention of ensuring the ratification of the measure that would give reality to the constitutionally guaranteed right of the people to information of public interest.
The only conclusion one can draw about the badly scripted drama that Nograles and his accomplices – Majority Leader Arthud Defensor and Camiguin Representative Pedro Romualdo – acted out is that, even in his last moments as Speaker, the political expediency that characterized the outgoing administration continued to trump our long suffering people’s hopes for good governance and an end to corruption .
But Romualdo was right on one score – we will never forget this betrayal and will make sure neither will the people.
Let this nevertheless be a challenge to the incoming administration, which has promised to govern along the principles of good governance.
On the very first day you take over the reins of government, send an unequivocal signal to the 15th Congress to make the speedy passage of the freedom of information bill its first priority.
Anything less than this will signal that we are in for another six years of lip service and empty platitudes.
We will be watching.
I’ve very vocal over my disgust in the presnet/outgoing administration, kaya nakakapagmura ako dala ng bugso ng damdamin. Ipagpaumanhin sana ng maybahay at kayong mga panauhin dito.
Bagama’t alam kong ganyan din ang saloobin ninyo ay napapanatili ang composure na hindi ko kayang gawin, aaminin ko. Kung itong mga hinalal ng taong bayan ay naglilingkod ng tama, ginagampanan ang kanilang tungkuling nararapat lamang sapagkat sinusuwelduhan na sila, tambak pa ang peks, este perks na tinatamasa nila. Kuwentahin ninyo ang mga ini-enjoy nilang hindi tinatanggap ng mga karaniwang kawani, lalo na ‘yung mga ordinaryong kawal, huwag na ‘yung mga tulis, este pulis dahil marami silang “pinapatungan” kaya kita n’yo naman, ‘yung mga rookies nila, hindi gumagradweyt eh para ng mga buntis sa kabundatan.
Ang isang mambubutas sa mababang kapulungan , magkano ba ang pork barrel na tinatanggap? ‘Yun pang sa committee chairmanship/membership, magkano? ‘Yung pakimkim pa ng galanteng panggulo? Gayundin, ‘yung mga kagulanggulang nating mga senadores, di ba’t mas malaki ang pork barrel? Ang sa committee chairmanship/membership?
Sana naman, sa halip na palagi sila sa labas ng bansa, mag-absent sa sesyon, sa plenaryo ay um-attend naman sila. Sayang ‘yung mga nakabimbing panukalang batas na sila din naman ang unang nakikinabang at proteksiyon ng mga kinurakot nila ‘yun, eh. Blanket of immunity pa nga.
Sige sila, mamaya nila niyan, ‘yung mga bumoto sa kanila ay tandaan ang palagi nilang pagpapasarap sa halip na magpasa, magpatibay at magpatupad ng batas, hindi na uli sila iboto sa 2013 at 2016.
Mga tinamaan kayo ng lintek, magtrabaho naman kayo!
Mga buwiset!!
“I’ve been very vocal over my disgust in the present/outgoing administration, kaya nakakapagmura ako…..”
Bulol! Bulol!
Inutil na mga congressmen! (Hindi kasama ng mga sumipot)
It will not pass, not even in Noy’s time. There are just too many people who wouldn’t want the dirt dug up on their shady deals. There are the Tabako boys, the Glue’s men and even the Kamag-anaks. The rich mafiosi will have their way, until the Congress has less of their kind.
A popular president’s legislative agenda may still be blocked, especially when his party is not the majority in Congress. Just ask Bill Clinton, or Obama. Even Bush who had the majority in Congress could not get the immigration bill of McCain-Kennedy passed.
Meantime, it may be best to just ask the government agency, and if denied, to sue in court for it. There is no need for the law. There is sufficient jurisprudence to anchor any lawsuit on, specifically:
Valentin Legaspi v. Civil Service Commission http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1987/may1987/gr_l_72119_1987.html
where the civil service eligibility of certain appointees were inquire into,
and
Valmonte v Feliciano Belmonte – where the names of all legislator/beneficiaries of GSIS loans made on the behest of Imelda was asked for.
So we can ask for pork releases, and their disbursements, and how they were spent. The working papers of the NBN-ZTE deal at the NEDA can also be requested (I’m sure they have been shredded).
Nagulat ako sa news. Si Atty. Macalintal na election lawyer ni Gibo ang nag-propose na isingit yung FOI Act sa joint session bago ang proclamation ni Noynoy.
Dati ay kasama siyang nagtatakip sa anumang info laban sa amo niyang si Putot. Ngayon, porke nasa kabilang court na ang bola gusto nila ng transparency.
Hayup!
Puwede bang i-disbar ‘yang si Macalintal kapag napatunayang (kailangan pa ba?) nanamantala sa posisyon si gloria dorobo at sangkot (pasimuno) sa kababuyan ang marangal na baboy at anak nilang kabayo at durugista?
Accomplice din siya kung tutuusin sa mga katiwalian ng pamilyang walang kahihiyan, di ba?
Ano sa palagay mo, Atitiway Sax?
Magno:
Bilang konsepto, maaaring ma-disbar. Ang problema, pulitikahan din sa IBP (Integrated Bar of the Philippines), na mag-iimbestiga.
Sa appeal naman, laging bukas-palad ang mga hukuman.