Floor deliberations on House Bill 3732 also known as the "Freedom of Information Act of 2008" has begun at the House of Representatives.

"I proudly stand before you today with high hopes that we shall be adding on and enhancing our democratic ideals and further empowering our people," Congressman Lorenzo Tañada III said in his sponsorship speech.

HB 3732, entitled "An Act Implementing the Right of Access to Information on Matters of Public Concern Guaranteed Under Section Twenty-Eight, Article II and Section Seven, Article III of the 1987 Constitution and for Other Purposes," will be a substitute for bills 194, 997, 1665, 2021, 2059, 2176, 2223, 2293 and 3116, previously referred to the committee on public information for deliberation, Tañada said.

The lawmaker said that while the present Constitution has secured the people's right to be informed on matters of public concern in Section 7 of the Bill of Rights and the Supreme Court affirmed this, they were far from complete.

"Its effective implementation has for the past two decades suffered from the lack of the necessary substantive and procedural details that only legislature can provide," he said.

"There is no uniform, simple and speedy procedure for securing access to information," he said.

Tañada said Section 5 (e) of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees lists among the duties of public officials the obligation to make all documents accessible to the public within reasonable working hours. Instead of applying this provision, public officials should implement Section 5 (a), "which directs them to act promptly on letters and requests within fifteen days acknowledging receipt thereof, and stating that the request is being considered," he said.

Meanwhile, Tañada said that "the specification of the coverage of the guarantee, particularly the general rule on what information may be exempted, needs legislation. The constitutional provision states that "access to information shall be afforded our citizens subject to such limitations as may be provided by law."

"Precisely for the lack of definite procedure as well as the absence of a definite scope, there is at present no effective basis for imposing administrative or penal sanctions for violations of the right [of access to information]," Tañada said.

Tañada said that "the declaration of policy under Section 28, contemplates a duty on the part of government agencies to bring into public view all the steps and negotiations leading to the consummation of transactions involving public interest and the contents of the perfected contract, without need of demand from anyone."

However, he quoted from the court notes of the recent Chavez vs NHA case decided last Aug. 15, 2007, which stated that "there is still no enabling law that provides the mechanics for the compulsory duty of government agencies to disclose information on government transactions."

Tañada said that HB 3732 would provide for "an expansive scope in terms of government agencies as well as information covered. It enumerates only a narrow list of exceptions, the limits of which is circumscribed by clearly stating the serious public harm that we wish to avoid through the withholding of the said information."

"To further counterbalance the exceptions, we provide citizens an opportunity and right to override a recognized exception when there is grater public interest in the disclosure," he said.

The lawmaker said the bill would provide "a clear, uniform and speedy procedure for access to information." He added that it would "put in place a provision implementing the automatic disclosure of transactions of public concern as required by Section 28, Article II of the Constitution."

The bill will also prescribe against excessive costs of access to information and put in place a system of accessible and speedy remedies that a citizen who has been denied access to information might resort to, Tañada said.

"We institute mechanisms to promote a culture of openness within government, and to enhance not only the physical accessibility of information, but its understandability by the general public as well. We introduce clear administrative, criminal and civil liability for violation of the right to information," he said.

Tañada said, "The right to information is an important enabling ingredient of democracy. It is a precondition to the exercise of other democratic rights, including the freedom of speech, of expression, and of the press."

"The right to information is a vital cog to good governance and government accountability. It is a vital safeguard to corruption; and the right to information provides fuel to development. Development requires better and more responsive policies, which the right to information can effectively evolve," he said.