MANILA, Philippines -- Congress is close to ratifying the freedom of information bill, which limits the power of officials to keep public documents, such as contracts and statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, from the people.

All 11 members of the bicameral conference committee have signed the report approving the final version of the bill, with Alagad Rep. Rodante Marcoleta and Nueva Ecija Rep. Rodolfo Antonino being the last to affix their names

Marcoleta and Antonino, in separate phone interviews, confirmed their approval of the report.

With this development, the bill could be endorsed for ratification with the full backing of the committee, and with little risk that last minute oppositions could stonewall its approval. After ratification, it will be sent to the President for signature.
Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III, one of the proponents of the measure, said the proposed law would be included in the legislative calendar by Monday, and ratified before the adjournment of Congress next week.

Tañada noted that Speaker Prospero Nograles has been supportive of the bill and has listed it as among his priority measures.

The measure is intended to promote transparency and good governance, and to help people make informed choices.

Under the bill, all government offices would be required to comply with requests for information on matters of public concern. It punishes with jail terms those who try to keep vital information under wraps, and also provides the procedure for requesting the data.

It requires government agencies to automatically disclose on their websites all the negotiations, and government positions pertaining to propositions of the government. Also to be disclosed are the contents of compromise agreements, procurement contracts, construction or concession agreements, loans, guarantees given by the government to private entities, bilateral or multilateral agreements, and licenses to use or extract natural resources.

The bill limits what kind of information could be considered classified or confidential, and provides the opportunity to challenge the exceptions to public disclosure if the public interest warrants it.

It states that exceptions could be overcome if the public interest to be served by the disclosure outweighs any harm that the disclosure of the data could bring. The House of Representatives and the Senate could also ask for confidential information as long as these would be revealed in an executive session.

The information allowed to be kept confidential include those pertaining to national security, those that deal with foreign affairs (but only if revealing the data would jeopardize the government's position in negotiations or its diplomatic relations), those that would jeopardize a police or military operation, and those that would endanger the lives of witnesses, law enforcers or members of the military and their families.

Also exempted are matters that would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, information that is privileged since they come from legal proceedings or are protected from disclosure by the rules of court, information disclosed during congress' executive sessions, and drafts of decisions by executive, legislative or judicial offices.

The bill also prohibits the destruction of important records, including those that pertain to contracts, loans and personal assets, liabilities and net worth.