By Katherine Evangelista INQUIRER.net

Senator Gringo Honasan

MANILA, Philippines Despite the Senates failure to pass the Peoples Ownership of Government Information (POGI) bill (formerly called the Freedom of Information bill) before adjourning for sine die on Wednesday, Senator Gregorio Honasan II remained confident that the bill will be taken up when session resumes in July.

During the Kapihan sa Senado media forum, Honasan, who is the chairman of the committee on public information and mass media, said that he is happy with the pace of the passing of the bill which is in the period of interpellation in the Senate while they await the House version.

I hope when session resumes after SONA (State-of-the-Nation Address) in July, or the last Monday of July, [we will be able to deliberate on it]. Im confident that we will do this as expeditiously as possible, he said.

Honasan said that Senator Allan Peter Cayetano will also deliver his co-sponsorship speech for the POGI bill.

The bill has been pending in the Senate for several months after they had to wait for the Malacaang version of the measure, Honasan said.

The Senator explained that the bill was probably not given enough attention and priority by Malacaang.

In fact this has never been certified as urgent so thats what we are asking for: to identify the national priorities so we would know [what to tackle first], Honasan told reporters.

Nevertheless, Honasan said that they have received the Palace version and has consolidated their amendments with the Senates version.

Here is the original post:

Freedom of Information bill to be taken up in July — Honasan