It may not have been certified as urgent by the Aquino administration, but the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill now appears to have the best chances of becoming law in the near future.

If and when this finally happens, Philippine media can finally give a long overdue thank you to the congressmen and senators who supported the FOI bill.

In the past years and in the past Congresses, support for previous versions of an FOI bill had been half-hearted at best. And while there have been small numbers of lawmakers who had always believed that such a law is a must, it is only in the present Congress that they have gathered the momentum to push it to its desired conclusion – no longer an FOI bill, but a full-fledged FOI Law.

President Benigno Aquino 3rd could only state previously that he wanted Congress to push ahead with the legislative process regarding the bill. For his own reasons, Mr. Aquino opted not to certify the bill as urgent despite local media’s constant calls for him to do so.

Despite the lack of full Malacañang support, however, a sufficient number of lawmakers have stood foursquare behind the bill. We would like to think that these supporters have no hidden agenda, that they have nothing to hide, and that they completely believe in its merits.

But to be perfectly honest, we will take whatever support is given just as long as the bill is finally signed into law, probably in the first quarter of next year.

The FOI bill was passed by the House on first reading this week and approval on second reading is expected by next month. Still, it would be foolhardy to believe that that path will be easy. Anything can happen along the way. Specifically, there will be lawmakers who do not believe that journalists have the right to dig deep into the records of anyone in government.

Those who have something to hide will vehemently oppose the bill, although not necessarily out in the open.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. is looking at holding plenary debates on the FOI bill, formally known as House Bill 6766, soonest.

Meanwhile, the upper house of the bicameral Congress has also delivered the goods. The Senate version of the FOI bill was approved on third reading a few days ago.

There really is no reason for any lawmaker to withhold his or her support for the necessary measure. The FOI bill promotes transparency in government records and transactions. It is not only media that can take advantage of the proposed law to see to it that all government transactions are aboveboard. Ordinary citizens can cite the pending law to do their own sleuthing if they suspect that a big ticket contract was approved under questionable circumstances.

As taxpayers, Filipinos have the right to know.

Opposers of the bill in the House of Representatives may be a minority, but they have proven themselves capable of blocking its progress. For more than a year, it has languished at the committee level.

One of the seemingly valid concerns of opposers is what they see as the absence of a person’s right to reply when accused of wrongdoing by media. They are, therefore, insisting that a “right-of-reply” provision be included in the FOI bill before they agree to support it.

This is a minor detail. It should not be used as a reason to again kill an FOI bill that is long, long overdue.