Petition for Philippine Access to Information Law
Truth, Accountibility, Reform
Points from Conversation with Atty. Malaluan
Just spoke to Atty. Malaluan. Here are the points that we covered.
1. The Freedom of Information Law passed the 3rd reading in congress a few days ago.
2. Getting the bill through senate is now the focus. This will involve among other things:
-Compelling the senate information committee [paraphrasing] to hold a hearing on it
-Identifying senators who will champion the cause, will provide more than just token support
-Raising the profile of the issue as high as possible, but without causing any polarization. They want to make the support as unanimous as possible in the senate
-All groups should have a united front to maximize the pressure on the senate to pass the bill
3. There is a short window to get this done. By 2010, the elections will make any progress difficult. Realistically speaking, the timeline to accomplish everything is from the opening of congress after recess, July '08 until December '08.
4. ATIN, the group that Atty Malaluan leads, is tentatively planning a news conference on Wednesday to announce the passing in congress and to initiate the next stage of pushing it through the senate. [I assumed this is Wed next week, but I failed to clarify this.] They will probably have a group meeting if not before, then right after the news conference. This meeting, or the news conference, will be the best place for our group to get on board with the rest of the groups pushing for FOI. They will keep in touch with us regarding the schedule when it is finalized. Contact person is Mike Ocampo (who was at the last TeamRP meeting) or Atty. Malaluan.
Will post any updates in teamrp.ning.com and the egroup.
1. The Freedom of Information Law passed the 3rd reading in congress a few days ago.
2. Getting the bill through senate is now the focus. This will involve among other things:
-Compelling the senate information committee [paraphrasing] to hold a hearing on it
-Identifying senators who will champion the cause, will provide more than just token support
-Raising the profile of the issue as high as possible, but without causing any polarization. They want to make the support as unanimous as possible in the senate
-All groups should have a united front to maximize the pressure on the senate to pass the bill
3. There is a short window to get this done. By 2010, the elections will make any progress difficult. Realistically speaking, the timeline to accomplish everything is from the opening of congress after recess, July '08 until December '08.
4. ATIN, the group that Atty Malaluan leads, is tentatively planning a news conference on Wednesday to announce the passing in congress and to initiate the next stage of pushing it through the senate. [I assumed this is Wed next week, but I failed to clarify this.] They will probably have a group meeting if not before, then right after the news conference. This meeting, or the news conference, will be the best place for our group to get on board with the rest of the groups pushing for FOI. They will keep in touch with us regarding the schedule when it is finalized. Contact person is Mike Ocampo (who was at the last TeamRP meeting) or Atty. Malaluan.
Will post any updates in teamrp.ning.com and the egroup.
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