Last week, Filipino Senator Teofisto D. Guingona III introduced the “Crowdsourcing Act of 2012,” which aims to include citizens in the lawmaking process.

Putting his proverbial money where his mouth is, Guingona posted a draft of the bill online, looking for feedback from the crowd.

The law seeks to:

• Make all pending bills and Congressional reports available online
• Create a feedback system for individuals to send comments on bills
• Make committee hearing schedules easily accessible online
• Encourage participation throughout the draft and debate process
• Make it mandatory for the president to solicit and review public feedback before signing a bill into law

“Crowdsourcing is a recognition of a new breed of citizens that work effectively and productively, contributing to national development, through the internet and/or with the use of information and communications system,” states section 3, article C of the proposed act.

If the law passes, it will be interesting to see how the government implements it. How can the proposed “online mechanism” ensure, for example, that only Filipino citizens are commenting?

The Philippines has been in the news a lot since the passage of a cybercrime law, which opponents say will severely limit freedom of expression online. Senator Guingona is an outspoken critic of that law, criticizing its vagueness, unfair treatment of online media, and oppressive nature. The implementation of the law has since been suspended, pending review by the country’s Supreme Court.

We’ve covered several government-related crowdsourcing initiatives this week. Check out our articles on crowdsourcing presidential debate questions in the U.S. and on Nulpunt, which also aims to make government more accountable through crowdsourcing.