Congressman in FOI
fashion statement

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casino is taking fashion statements to the next level with yet another specially-themed Barong Tagalog for President Benigno Aquino III’s second State of the Nation Address.

This year, Casino will be wearing a Barong Tagalog with the theme “Freedom of Information,” in support of the calls of many media and civil society groups for the government to finally pass the Freedom of Information (FOI) act that has been pending with Congress for 14 years.

Casino’s Barong will be made of beige silk with embroidery depicting the call for the passage of the FOI Act. The Barong was designed by Edgar San Diego, a multi-awarded designer and a pioneer member of the Fashion Designers Association of the Philippines.

Media and civic groups have been calling on President Aquino to make good on his earlier pledge to support the FOI and push it through Congress. However, the measure was not included among the President’s priority measures during the first regular session. From all indications, the measure will not even merit any mention during the President’s second SONA.

The President’s communications team has told media groups that the President and some of his cabinet members were going slow with the proposed FOI because of concerns that the unfettered release of information would discourage open and frank policy discussions and debates among top government officials.

In 2010, Casino appeared for President Aquino’s first SONA dressed in another San Diego outfit that was similarly politically themed. That time, Casino’s Barong called for an end to extrajudicial killings.