The chairman of the House committee on public information has strongly rejected blaming President Aquino and the Liberal Party (LP) for the non-action of his panel on the controversial Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill.
This even as a ranking member of the House said the measure may be tackled in October once Congress resumes session after a two-week break to allow them to file their certificates of candidacy.
In a text message, Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said his statements made in an interview over a television program were grossly twisted by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).
“The PCIJ twisted my statements. I was quoted out of context. I did not and will not blame Aquino and the LP on FoI,” Evardone told the Tribune.
“That story is baseless,” he averred.
In the PCIJ story, Evardone was supposed to have said during his interview that he has long been wanting to get through his committee since he has been the one who gets beaten up in the media.
“And I was even with the media before,” PCIJ quoted Evardone as saying.
The story followed up with more quotes from Evardone supposedly saying FoI is not a priority of Aquino and that it was not in the legislative agenda submitted to the House nor was it mentioned in Aquino’s last State of the Nation Address (Sona).
PCIJ also quoted Evardone as saying there is no existing party stand on the bill and if there was, he would be toeing the party line.
Last Tuesday, Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada blamed Evardone for allegedly sitting on the bill, saying if they could only get over the “Evardone hump,” and get the bill into the plenary, they could be able to address the concerns of some of the lawmakers.
Yesterday, Ifugao Rep, Teddy Brawner Taguilat and the coalition Right to Know Right Now joined the fray, even accusing Evardone and House Majority Leader Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales of trying to kill the bill.
“(Congressman) Baguilat and the Right to Know Right Now do not know what they are talking about,” Evardone stressed.
Asked if when the bill would be subjected to a hearing by his committee, Evardone said they are just waiting for the result of the majority caucus on the issue.
“We are waiting for the caucus of the ruling coalition regarding the FoI,” he added.
Gonzales affirmed Evardone’s statement, saying the bill could be tackled by October as soon as Congress resumes session.
“Right now, we are busy with the budget deliberation. Earlier, we have been pre-occupied with the Corona impeachment,” Gonzales told the Tribune in a telephone interview. “And after the budget deliberation, which would take at least two weeks, Congress goes on a two-week recess to allow lawmakers to file their certificates of candidacy.”
“So, hopefully, we could deliberate on the FoI Bill by October,” the Majority Leader said.
Gonzales, however added, they would still have a caucus as what Evardone had said before commencing on the deliberation of the bill.
“It’s another controversial bill that needs a majority consensus before being discussed,” he said.
“Just look at the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill. We had a caucus before it was deliberated on the floor but still we cannot prevent heated debates on the issue,” he added.
Gonzales said they have failed to hold a caucus on the FoI Bill, citing the impeachment trial, the Robredo accident, the RH Bill issue and the ongoing budget deliberation among others as reasons.
“But definitely, we will be holding a caucus and try to reach a consensus on the issue when we come back October,” he stressed.
Gonzales, however, refused to comment on the statement of Baguilat and the Right to Know Right Now coalition.