After almost a decade of going through “exhaustive” reviews after reviews, arguments and counter-arguments, it has finally come to this…
House fails to ratify Freedom of Information bill
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 15:51:00 06/04/2010MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE 3) The House of Representatives Friday failed to ratify the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill due to lack of quorum, causing outrage among several lawmakers and giving the 14th Congress a “sad ending” on its last day of session.
But all is not lost for the bill as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can still call for a special session to have it ratified, according to Representative Neri Colmenares.
“If President Arroyo is really serious, she can call for a special session anytime, that’s what the rule says,” he said.
Colmenares also said that they are studying the possibility of raising the issue when Congress convenes in joint session for the proclamation of the winning president and vice president.
At 5:07 p.m., or close to two hours after session resumed, Speaker Prospero Nograles banged the gavel signaling the sine die adjournment of the 14th Congress.
As the roll call showed only 128 lawmakers present, Nograles said the chamber could no longer transact any legislative business, foremost of which is the FOI bill, which was on top of the agenda for the day.
It was Camiguin Representative Pedro Romualdo who questioned the quorum that prompted the calling of the roll.
Somehow, I wasn’t at all surprised at the sudden death of the bill that would have allowed the long-suffering Juan de la Cruz access on just about anything, save for the most sensitive of information (intelligence and military secrets and all that blahs about national security) from the government. I had heavy doubts that the bill, or at least this version, will ever see the light of day. Why? Because for a lawmaker and his sizable pork barrel, it’ll be like signing his own death warrant — it’s a wonder that the lower house hadn’t “killed” it years before.
The sad part is, to this day, those shysters in their expensive suits and barongs still wanted us to believe that they, err… tried their best.
“I did my best. But I guess my best wasn’t good enough, I have not expected this to happen especially because many of the authors were not present. The authors and co-authors would have been enough to sustain the quorum and we were not remiss in requesting for their presence. This is beyond my control. I’m sorry.”
Did anyone notice speaker Nograles’ nose getting longer while making that excuse?
Funny thing though, when they wanted to quickly pass or railroad an important bill like say, the allocation or the size of a pork barrel, a quorum, or the lack of it, don’t seem to be a problem for them — much less being questioned by their own.
Perhaps our esteemed legislators feel that Juan de la Cruz has better things to do than to sniff around and dig through the heaps of garbage that has accumulated through the years… or maybe they’re just protecting their behinds.
walang pagbabago… i wonder if this scenario will change in the future. akala nila tanga ang lahat ng mga Filipino. 😦
Bing> Well, it is part of a politician’s (the crooked ones especially) job to fool and mislead the citizens, hehe. Juan de la Cruz had plenty of opportunity in the past to correct what was wrong in our system, sadly, that lesson is all but lost on him come election time. And so the cycle goes on…
Most of these son of the bitches, whether it passes or not will still have that edge of twisting the bill itself to have other things exempt from public scrutiny or being made public. The counry desperately needs 99 percent of the likes of Neri Colmenaris and/or hundreds of Jesse Robredos in Congress. Our congress is like a barn of fowles and animals, hehe….
TruBlue> I’ve always had my doubts about the bill, because these f**ng lawmakers aren’t about to shoot themselves in the foot.