grabe. murag giplano nga sabotahe ni. murag concerted effort unya dako kaau nga part si nograles.
this was on monday, may 31...
Nograles blocks effort to pass Freedom of Information Act | DateLine Philippines
Lawmakers said it would only take two minutes to ratify the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act on Monday. But it took House Speaker Prospero Nograles less than that to set back the timetable to June 4 at the earliest, after Congress proclaims a new President and Vice President.
As soon as Nograles opened Monday’s session, Majority Leader Arthur Defensor immediately moved to suspend the session, which the Speaker did. All in less than 10 seconds.
“Bastusan na talaga [This is the height of rudeness]. It was like we weren’t there,” said Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto Guingona III.
Guingona, together with Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, and Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros were all standing on the session floor ready to move for the bill’s ratification.
But Abante said none of the legislators were able to speak out because only the microphones of Nograles and Defensor were on.
“They shut off the mike,” Abante said, adding that he was about to make a point of order when he found out that his mike was turned off.
The Manila representative also said he had planned to deliver a privilege speech and then move for the ratification of the bill.
Guingona said that it was only Nograles who was against the passage of the FOI Act.
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Text blasts help down FOI bill
A day before the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill was supposed to be taken up at the House of Representatives, Speaker Prospero Nograles told media that text messages and phone calls were being made to ensure that House members would attend Friday's session for the ratification of the measure.
“We are doing text brigades,” Nograles told reporters. “We are calling them, we are reminding them to attend the last session all because we want the Freedom of Information to pass.”
The night before, however, journalists and FOI advocates received a different text message. Reportedly forwarded by a lawmaker “sympathetic” to the FOI bill, it urged House members not to attend the session.
The message read in part: “In view of the possible adverse impact of the pending Freedom of Information bill on the performance of the basic tasks of the government and the reported big rally of leftist groups at the House of Rep. to coerce congressmen to support said controversial bill, you may wish to join the many congressmen of various political parties who have decided not to attend the last session of the House . . .”
By that day’s end, the bill was dead – an event foreseen by several lawmakers.
“Gagawin nilang lahat ng puwedeng gawin [They will do everything they can],” Citizens' Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) party-list Rep. Joel Villanueva told 12 other lawmakers who attended a June 2 caucus at a Quezon City restaurant to strategize on how to get the bill ratified.
According to Villanueva, it was possible that the House leadership would even “sacrifice” other measures that were already included in the Congress’s last-day agenda just so it could block the bill.
“Walang ipapasa kahit ano [No measure will be passed],” Villanueva told his colleagues.
Collateral damage
His prediction came true. A copy of the June 4 House agenda obtained by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) shows that eight other measures died alongside the FOI bill on Friday because of a supposed lack of quorum.
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a moro-moro....
House fails to ratify Freedom of Information bill - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos
But lawmakers and media organizations pressing for the ratification of the bill are not convinced and blasted Nograles and some of the House leaders for the “moro-moro (farce).”
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Bayan Muna partylist Representative Teodoro Casiño said everything was “moro-moro” to make the public believe that the House leadership wants the FOI bill, when in fact, it wants it dead.
Originally Posted by mata_hari
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