MANILA, Philippines?The fate of the right of reply bill will be decided in a caucus of the House of Representatives to be held shortly after sessions resumes next week.

A survey conducted at the House showed that the majority of congressmen approved of the bill, according to its principal author, Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella.

The congressman said a survey conducted two weeks before the House went on recess on March 6 showed that 87 of his colleagues agreed with the bill, 11 disagreed while 12 were undecided.

But he said the final decision would come in the closed-door caucus. They may have changed their minds by then, he noted.

Puentevella said he would inhibit himself from voting during the meeting and would leave it to his fellow lawmakers to decide whether the bill should be subjected to further debates or shelved altogether.

?We will have a closed door caucus on whether the body and the assembly want to take it up again or not,? he said, adding that he would abide by whatever the majority decides.

He also disclosed that there was ?some pressure? for the House to pass the bill, but refused to say the source of the ?pressure.?

Earlier, Speaker Prospero Nograles asked media organizations to reconsider their hard opposition to the bill and to submit proposals on how lawmakers could come up with a proposed law acceptable and fair to all parties.

The right of reply bill seeks to require media organizations to publish the responses of parties who feel they had been maligned in reports.

Media organizations that refuse to do so would face sanctions.

The proposal has been criticized by media practitioners who view it as an intrusion on the constitutionally protected provision on press freedom, saying it would dictate on them what to publish.

The Senate has long passed a right of reply bill, with senators voting 21-0 in favor of the proposed legislation.

In the wake of unfavorable reactions, several senators believed to have aspirations for higher office withdrew their support for the bill.

The House version, that has been watered down in response to snowballing criticism, has yet to be subjected to plenary debates.

A busy schedule awaits the House when it resumes sessions on Monday, from tackling the issue of Charter change to working on a law extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. Its latest extension expires in June.