MEMBERS OF THE Right to Know, Right Now Coalition troop to the Senate today, Wednesday, to file its petition for an indirect initiative for the People’s FOI Bill.
The petition is a counterpart to an earlier petition filed by the same group with the House of Representatives.
The group hopes to establish a shortcut for the Freedom of Information bill after several failed attempts to push a recalcitrant Congress to pass the FOI. The indirect initiative is a mechanism that allows people’s organizations to directly propose a bill to Congress. Under Republic Act 6735 or the Initiative and Referendum Act, a bill that is proposed through the indirect initiative mechanism must be given priority by the congressional committee handling it.