Members of the Right to Know Right Now Coalition, with House Champions, the House Committee Secretariat, and the PCO FOI Project Management Office after the approval on 2nd reading of the House Right to Information Bill, May 26, 2026.
R2KRN Statement on the approval on Second Reading of the RTI Act of 2026 in the House of Representatives, May 27, 2026
The Right to Know Right Now Coalition (R2KRN) welcomes the approval on Second Reading of the proposed Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2026 in the House of Representatives on May 26, 2026.
For over 30 years, we, the people, have waited for a law that operationalizes our constitutional right to information and the state policy of full public disclosure of transactions involving public interest.
The House’s approval of House Bill No. 9397 on second reading affirms its resplendent history in and outside Congress, and the painstaking and dutiful labor of its champions and advocates then and now.
In the 20th Congress, salute and respect to all of its key architects, notably the House Committee on Public Information led by Committee Chairperson Rep. Lordan G. Suan, its Vice Chairpersons and members, the Technical Working Group led by Rep. Brian Raymund S. Yamsuan, the Committee on Appropriations, the authors of the 20-plus RTI bills that the committee consolidated into its report, and stakeholders from government, media, civil society, academe, and citizens’ groups who contributed to the deliberations.
We extend special thanks to the House Committee Secretariat and the Freedom of Information – Program Management Office (FOI-PMO) of the Presidential Communications Office for their invaluable support throughout the legislative process.
We thank, too, the Senate of the Philippines, particularly its Committee on Public Information led by Chairperson Sen. Robinhood Padilla and its committee members, the bill authors, and members of the Senate plenary, for the earlier approval of the Senate version up to Third Reading.
The progress achieved in both Houses of Congress affirms the growing recognition across institutions that the people’s right to information must finally be given a durable statutory framework.
We note the broad multiparty support for the RTI bill in both Houses, across majority and minority blocs, amid a period of significant political polarization and contestation. Transparency, accountability, and the people’s right to know remain democratic principles that resonate and rise above political differences.
Apart from affirming the citizen’s right to know, the House passed an RTI bill that is workable, balanced, and responsive to addressing legitimate governance concerns. The measure reflects lessons from years of RTI practice by citizens, and the significant proof of concept in the implementation of Executive Order No. 2, which instituted in 2016 access to information in the Executive branch.
Our hopes rekindled, we now look forward to a few last steps that Congress and the President must take to finally enact into law the RTI Act of 2026:
- The approval of the measure on Third Reading in the House of Representatives;
- The approval of the measure through the bicameral conference process, where the distinct strengths and innovations of the House and Senate versions may be carefully reconciled to finalize an even stronger and more principled final measure and eventual law;
- The parallel ratification of the measure approved in the bicameral conference by both the House and the Senate during session; and,
- The signing into law of the RTI Act of 2026 by the President.
While important work remains ahead in the legislative process, the approval of the proposed RTI Act by both chambers of Congress marks a significant step toward institutionalizing a more open, accountable, and participatory government.
The Right to Know Right Now Coalition thanks all those who helped move the measure forward and calls on Congress to sustain the momentum and assure its full fruition and passage into a law.–Right to Know Right Now Coalition, May 27, 2026