Lawmakers, apparently afraid that the Freedom of Information (FoI) bill may not be able to hurdle the legislative mill in the 15th Congress, yesterday lambasted Malacañang and the leadership of the House committee on public information for allegedly being cold on the measure.
Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone were a willing tool of President Aquino in trying to stymie the bill which has been pending in the House since the start of the 15th Congress.
“Rep. Ben Evardone is clutching at straws to justify his refusal to take up the bill in his committee. Why insist on a caucus when the committee can very well make decisions on the measure? Obviously he is just playing the role of Malacañang’s willing tool in sitting on the FoI bill,”  Casiño said.
He said Aquino should have the same zeal for it that he has for the reproductive health bill.
“Do they have something to hide? Noynoy even called for a meeting in Malacañang to deliver his marching orders to fast track the RH bill. The FoI bill is long overdue and it would have been very useful in uncovering corruption in government as well as in analyzing the proposed national budget,” the solon said.
Evardone, for his part, dismissed the charges as “baseless” and “misplaced.”
“As I said, there are contending issues that need to be reesolve first and I believe that those issues can be hammered out in a caucus of the leaders and members of the ruling coalition,” he said.
The Samar solon said the caucus would expedite the process and will prevent heated, spirited and highly divisive debates in the committee level and in the plenary.
“Once the coalition partners decide on (a) final version of the bill, the process will be more smooth and speedy. The advocates should address their concern to the leaders of the coalition in Congress,” he said.
“Let’s just wait for the convening of the caucus which hopefully will be held soon after the RH vote,” he said.
“I would like to put it on record that I’m not against the FoI. In fact, I am fully behind the spirit and intent of the FoI. It is just that there are issues and concerns that need to be resolved,” Evardone said.