Signing of Executive Order on the Freedom of Information

In Davao City Saturday evening, 7pm of 23 July 2016, twenty-three days into his presidency, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Executive Order (EO) on the Freedom of Information (FOI) in the executive branch.

The Executive Order, entitled “Operationalizing the Executive Branch the People’s Constitutional Right to Information and the State Policies of Full Public Disclosure and Transparency in the Public Service and Providing Guidelines Thereof,” is a promise of the then presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte during the campaign to make public documents and records more available to citizens and promote transparency in the government.

The executive order read, “Every Filipino shall have access to information, official records, public records, and to documents and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for public document.” It covers all offices under the executive branch, including the national government, government-owned and controlled organizations, state universities.

“There are, however, exceptions,” Secretary Andanar clarified during the press conference, “Access to information shall be denied when the information falls under any of the exceptions enshrined in the Constitution, existing law or jurisprudence.” The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) are directed to prepare an inventory of exceptions that cannot be disclosed by the Executive Order. This exceptions will be updated regularly and as necessary by the DOG and OSG. “The Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor-General are directed to prepare an inventory of such exceptions, “ Andanar added.

Any person who requests access to information shall submit a written request to the government office concerned. The request shall state the name and contact information of the requesting party, provide valid proof of his identification or authorization, reasonably describe the information requested, and even the reason for or purpose of the request for information. On the one hand, the public official receiving the request shall provide reasonable assistance, free of charge. Under section 15 of the EO, any employee or public officer who fails to comply with the provision may face administrative and disciplinary sanctions.

According to Secretary Andanar, with FOI, the release of the requested information should not take more than 15 days. But if there are legal questions on the information requested, it shall be forwarded to the OSG or the DOJ for interpretation. Government offices are barred from receiving any fee in accepting requests but may charge a reasonable fee when it comes to reproducing the documents.

While the signing of the Executive Order had been a record-breaking milestone for the executive branch, a bill of a similar nature has been lingering in the legislative body for twenty-nine years. ●