By Butch Fernandez & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
Lawmakers said Congress should enact the proposed Freedom of Information (FOI) measure into law, instead of as mere executive order (EO), to put more vigor into government efforts to fight corruption.
“An FOI law will strengthen the right of Filipinos to information held by the government by full public disclosure of all government transactions,” First District Rep. Raul V. del Mar of Cebu City said.
Del Mar said the proposed FOI Act he filed covers the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, including the national government and all its agencies, departments, bureaus, constitutional commissions and mandated bodies, offices of the senators and representatives, the Supreme Court and all lower courts established by law.
Local governments and all their agencies, regulatory agencies, chartered institutions, government-owned or -controlled corporations, including wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries, offices and instrumentalities, government financial institutions, state universities and colleges will also be covered.
Del Mar’s proposed FOI Act will include law-enforcement agencies, such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
He said exceptions will be granted if the information may compromise national security or interfere with
any legitimate military or law-enforcement operations.
“Immunity from the act shall also be permitted if the information shall jeopardize the diplomatic and nego-tiating position of the Philippines.
“The information shall not also be disclosed if it will expose identity of confidential sources, techniques, guidelines and procedures of law-enforcement investigations,” del Mar said.
Also, pieces of information that will constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, such as signatures, addresses, telephone numbers, identification numbers, family members, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and health education shall not be part of del Mar’s FOI Act.
However, the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth of all public officials will be disclosed on an annual basis. Incoming Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III also said senators will still pass a FOI law embracing the entire bureaucracy, with additional sanctions.
“The FOI law is still a go,” Pimentel said, explaining that “we still need a law as a matter of right.”
In a radio interview, Pimentel indicated that the FOI law will likely include stiffer penal provisions, in addition to the disciplinary and administrative sanctions awaiting erring public officials and employees who disobey Duterte’s EO on FOI.
He said penalties will be imposed if the EO is not obeyed, but added that the lawmakers will pass a law imposing other sanctions.
“The FOI law has reasonable limitations, but we will be transparent,” Pimentel said, recalling that Presi-
dent Duterte “abhors secrecy and seeks transparency.”
Efforts to enact an FOI law got derailed, even as the Senate in the 16th Congress passed the remedial legislation on third reading, but got stuck in the House during the Aquino administration.
Sen. Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Information, thanked President Duterte for starting the move to unlock information of interest to the public “at least in the Executive branch.”
However, Poe said she recalled hearing about “exceptions” in the implementation of the EO.
“There were pronouncements that we need to wait for the actual exceptions by the Office of the Solicitor General [OSG] to look into that, what exceptions are there?” she asked.
Poe said she expects the Palace to “say what the exceptions are and No. 2, they need to be clear what the penalties are for government officials who will fail to comply with this executive order.”
Exceptions
President Duterte, who signed on Saturday the EO, ordered the Department of Justice and the OSG to come up with an inventory of exceptions to the constitutional right to information to guide heads of agencies in determining whether the information requested is classified.
While the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) lauded the EO, the two business groups said they would like to see the exceptions.
PCCI President George T. Barcelon said the swift approval of the measure was an encouraging sign for the group as it is a show of good faith on the part of the administration.
“We take it in the positive light that he delivered what was promised. The process was likely [President Duterte’s] way of fast-tracking the measure, as it would have been prolonged in Congress like what happened in the previous administration where it was stalled in the House of Representatives,” Barcelon said.
While PCCI expects the chief executive’s first state of the nation address on Monday to touch on EO and shed more light on it, Barcelon said its implementing rules and regulations must be clear on what it doesn’t cover.
“Let’s wait for what the IRR [of the executive offices] will contain, [we can’t] say yet if a legislation, approved by Congress, needs to complement this,” he said.
MAP President Perry Pe said it is “vital” for him to see the exceptions before commenting on the EO.
“Bear in mind that the EO also recognizes privacy and the Data Privacy Act. So the key really is to see what will be contained in the exceptions list,” Pe said.
“The EO is only for the Executive branch, therefore, it doesn’t apply to Congress or the Supreme Court. The Executive, I suppose, wants to lead the way, and it is, of course, good for the public,” he added.
To access information within the Executive branch, a person must submit a written request to the government office concerned, stating the name and contact information of the requesting party, proof of identification, a description of the information requested and the purpose for the request.
“No request shall be denied or refused acceptance unless the reason for the request is contrary to law, existing rules and regulations or it is one of the exceptions contained in the inventory or updated inventory of exception as hereinabove provided,” the order said.
The request shall be granted or denied within 15 working days, and the denial shall set forth the reasons for such denial and the circumstances on which the denial is based. Failure to notify the requesting party of any action on the request within 15 working days shall be deemed a denial of the request.
In case of denial or deemed denial of the request, the requesting party may appeal to the next higher authority in the government agency concerned within 15 calendar days from the notice of denial or the lapse of the 15-day period to approve or deny the request without any action on the part of the requested party.
Upon exhaustion of administrative remedies, the requesting party may file the appropriate case in the proper courts.
With reports from David Cagahastian and Catherine N. Pillas