Right to information

HIDDEN AGENDA

- MARY ANN LL. REYES

Last Sept 30, the President, together with members of the Cabinet and leaders of Congress, officially identified the Right to Information (RTI) Act as a priority legislative measure under the Common Legislative Agenda of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) for the 20th Congress.

After nearly four decades of languishing in the legislative mill since it was first filed in Congress, the RTI Act is now among 44 priority legislative measures identified by the LEDAC.

No less than the 1987 Constitution, under Article III Section 7 of the Bill of Rights, provides that “the right of the people to information on matters of public concern, and to documents, and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as a basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.”

According to Senate Bill 189 or the People’s Freedom of Information Act of 2025 authored by Sen. Vicente Sotto III, the right to information shall cover the national and local governments and all their agencies, including those in the executive, legislative and judicial branches as well as constitutional commissions and constitutionally mandated bodies, government-owned or controlled corporations, government financial institutions, and state universities and colleges, among others.

Access to information shall not, however, extend to the following, among others:

Information specifically authorized to be kept confidential, i.e., those directly relating to national security or defense and its revelation may cause damage to the national security or internal and external defense of the State; or those pertaining to the country’s foreign relations when its revelation shall jeopardize its diplomatic relations with other states;