Malacañang is lukewarm to proposals for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to call for a special session of Congress to accommodate the passage of the Freedom of Information(FoI) bill.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar said there was no guarantee that lawmakers could muster a quorum to pass the measure in case of a special session.

Olivar pointed out that the measure did not see the light of the day in the 14th Congress precisely due to lack of quorum. He said it would be prudent if the Freedom of Information bill would be pursued in the next Congress, adding “the next Congress is already waiting in the wings and everybody is occupied with the transition.”

“Why should we believe that if we have another special session they will succeed? It’s certainly up to them to convince the President to call this, but at this point, we have the 15th Congress in waiting. This is something, maybe, they should consider holding over until the next administration,” he said.

“Some sponsors of the bill plan to pursue the measure in the administration of Senator Aquino. Maybe that’s a more productive way to go,” he said.

The public can also count on Mrs. Arroyo, as congresswoman of Pampanga, to support the FoI bill in the next Congress, Olivar said.

“In any case, for whatever it’s worth, the President supported it when she was the President and she moves to Congress. At least, they can count on at least one supporter for this bill, and that could be her,” he said.