AUTHORS of the freedom  of information (FOI) bill will not accept any proposal that would incorporate the right of reply (ROR) into their measure, despite the threats
of its opponents to block its passage without the provision.

Representatives Teddy Baguilat of Ifugao province and Walden Bello of Akbayan party-list, made the disclosure a day after House Assistant Majority Leader Sherwin Tugna of Citizens Battle Against Corruption party-list, called on the public to pressure members of the House of Representatives to pass the measure.

“I would thumb down any proposal including ROR because it is a separate subject from the FOI. A law should only deal with one subject,” Bello explained.

Baguilat, a former journalist, said that no law should regulate the editorial policy of media organizations, which would result if the ROR will be included in their bill.

“As a safety net, members of the media should provide redress for anyone unjustly damaged through info gained from FOI. The FOI law, however, should not dictate how,” Baguilat said in a text message to The Manila Times.

The bill, or House Bill 53, implements the constitutional right of the people to information on matters of public concern and the state policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest. It requires the posting of wealth statement of public officials, as well as access to information being used for decision-making, or project management, including transcripts and minutes of official meetings.

The proposed right to reply provision, meanwhile, would require a newspaper, or broadcast station to allot the same amount of space or air time for the reply of a person as that used in a news report that may have pictured him in a bad light. 

The Senate approved its own version of the measure on third and final reading before Congress went on a Christmas break in December 21. The House Committee on Public Information headed by Rep. Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar province already approved the bill. However, the measure has not yet reached the plenary for lack of quorum.

Evardone was supposed to deliver his sponsorship speech of the measure before the House adjourned for the Christmas break, but failed because not enough lawmakers were present in the plenary session measure once it resumes session on January 21.