Joselito Malig

Article (news)

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The House of Representatives has approved the Right to Information Bill, which seeks to “uphold the people’s constitutional right to access information” and “promote full public disclosure of all government transactions involving public interest”.During House plenary session on Tuesday, the lower chamber passed House Bill 9397 on third and final reading, with 284 affirmative votes, zero negative votes and zero abstentions.Under the bill, “every person has a right to and shall, on request, be given access to any information, official records, documents and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions or decisions that are of public concern under the control of a government agency or instrumentality”. It states that unjustified delay in responding to a request for information, knowingly invoking or applying an exception without factual or legal basis, and enforcing policies that obstruct access to information may be ground for administrative liability.The bill further creates a Commission to implement the measure once enacted, provide technical guidance on matters concerning public information, set operational standards for disclosure and settle disputes through adjudication or mediation.Apart from the Right to Information Bill, the lower chamber also approved two other priorities of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council on final reading.The House of Representatives approved House Bill 9257, which seeks to amend the law on the Bases Conversion and Development Act, with 271 affirmative votes, nine negative votes and two abstentions.The proposed measure declares 10% of the total land area of a number of BCDA properties as “alienable and disposable”. These are the Clark Special Economic Zone, including New Clark City and Clark Freeport Zone, Poro Point Freeport Zone, John Hay Reservation, Bataan Technology Park within the Morong Special Economic Zone. Half of the 10% is prescribed for residential and residential mixed-use purposes, and the other half is for institutional and industrial purposes. It further authorizes the President to declare an additional 5% of land for the same purposes, subject to market demand and prevailing economic conditions.The House of Representatives also approved on final reading House Bill 9461 or the proposed “Child Online Safety and Protection Act of 2026”, with 284 affirmative votes, zero negative votes and zero abstention.The bill seeks to expand the legal framework to cover modern threats, including artificial intelligence-generated and deepfake content, sexual extortion and image-based sexual abuse.

The House of Representatives has approved the Right to Information Bill, which seeks to “uphold the people’s constitutional right to access information” and “promote full public disclosure of all government transactions involving public interest”.

The House of Representatives has approved the Right to Information Bill, which seeks to “uphold the people’s constitutional right to access information” and “promote full public disclosure of all government transactions involving public interest”.

House OKs Right to Information bill, 2 other LEDAC priority measures

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House OKs Right to Information bill, 2 other LEDAC priority measures

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 02, 2026 10:57 PM PHT

Read More:

House of Representatives

Right to Information Bill

LEDAC

HB 9397

HB 9461

Child Online Safety and Protection Act of 2026

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