Majority leader: House may not pass FOI, anti-dynasty bills this year

The Plenary Hall, House of Representatives Complex, Constitution Hills, Quezon City
(Photo by: Robert Viñas/Malacañang Photo Bureau)

MANILA – The chances of the Freedom of Information (FOI) and anti-dynasty bills to be approved and the Charter Change to be resolved during the last session of Congress seemed dim as the House of Representatives noted that they would prioritize the proposed 2016 national budget and the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II disclosed that the House precedence from August to October will be the 2016 budget and the BBL. Afterwards; lawmakers would then be preoccupied with the national elections in May 2016, running out of time to consider other measures.

“After the filing of certificates… and after we approve the budget, it will already be difficult for us to muster a quorum. It’s almost a miracle if we can have a quorum,” Gonzales said in a radio interview.

After the expected passing of the national budget and the BBL this year, the Congress will go on recess and convene early next year.

After the campaign period, the lawmakers will close their last session.

‘FOI will again languish’

FOI bill author Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat admitted that he was no longer ‘optimistic’ that the said bill would be approved in the current Congress.

“We have only a two-month or three-month window – August to October – to pass the FOI bill. After that, I am not optimistic that we could still do it,” he said.

“I am seriously worried that the FOI bill will again not be passed by the current Congress, considering that there are other important legislation pending before both chambers,” he added.

Knowing that the BBL deliberation has not yet reached halfway and the budget hearings were to start soon, Baguilat predicted the FOI bill to remain pending.

“Considering the calendar, it is a worrying prospect that the FOI will again languish in the legislative mill,” he said.

Senate consultation

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. arranged a meeting with Senate President Franklin Drilon ‘to see what we can push very quickly’ among the pending bills in the House.

“I’m very happy that these are very likely going to be economic bills,” Belmonte said.

“I really don’t like passing stuff in the House in the last few months of effective work in Congress. I’d like to concentrate on things that will be passed also in the Senate,” he added.