De Lima bats for FOI passage

CEBU, Philippines – Administration senatorial candidate Leila de Lima is batting for the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill, saying if it will not be passed under the Aquino administration, she will be pushing for its immediate passage if elected as senator.

“I am really for FOI. Pero mukhang hindi na aabot this Congress. So, I will be pushing for the immediate passage of FOI,” said de Lima, who visited The Freeman office on Thursday.

De Lima admitted that although she does not know the latest version of the bill, she finds some of its provisions “funny”, specifically on the right to reply wherein it provides that the reply must be on the same page and of the same length as the previous article was published in the newspaper.

“It’s funny. I really find it funny. This is very unreasonable. The media outfit knows when to publish, papansinin ba ninyo yan, on what form, among others. You would know best,” said de Lima referring to the newspaper outlets.

The FOI Bill seeks to institutionalize transparency in the government by ensuring that ordinary citizens have access to information on government transactions.

Since the filing of the first FOI bill more than two decades ago, the measure seemingly reached stagnation in the 16th Congress.

Under the proposed measure, the FOI mandates that information must be published online and published in such a way that it is easily understandable to the average citizen.

Meanwhile, de Lima said that with so many laws in this country, if elected as senator, she said she will not focus on the number of laws she will pass.

“Napakarami na nating  batas. I would be very selective of what bills I would  be proposing. Hindi ako makikipagkumpetensiya ng mga bills,” she said.

De Lima said she will focus more on quality and necessity of a proposed measure.

“Maraming laws  na kailangan na e-review at kung  paano maiwasan ang duplication at overlapping and also complicated laws. We don’t need complicated laws. We need simple laws, the simpler the laws, the better. The easier to enforce and the faster to hold people accountable,” the former Justice secretary said.

De Lima said she is running for senator under the platform of justice, rule of law, anti-corruption and human rights.

“These are all my comfort zones I have seen enough in the justice  system. I have  seen the ills, the gaps, the shortcoming. We need simplicafication of penal laws  and criminal investigation process,” she said.

De Lima further said there should be a renewed offensive against corruption and that the legal mechanism against illegal wealth should be strengthened. She said this will make it more difficult for grafters and plunderers to hide or conceal the ill-gotten wealth and/or use them. —Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/JMD (FREEMAN)