A Visayan lawmaker has refiled the proposed Freedom of Information Act (FOI) that seeks to promote good governance, accountability and transparency in all branches of the government.
Cebu City Rep. Raul del Mar filed the measure as Malacañang has issued an executive order on FOI covering all agencies under the executive department, including government-owned and -controlled corporations
Del Mar said his proposed measure seeks to uphold the right of Filipino citizens to information held by the government and mandates full public disclosure of all government transactions in the public interest
“This same measure was already approved on third and final reading during the 14th Congress. However, due to the lack of a quorum on the last session day, the subject conference committee report was not ratified,” Del Mar said.
The bill provides that request for information shall be free of charge and it could be requested personally, by electronic means or by mail to the government agency concerned.
The FOI Act shall cover the executive, legislative and judicial branches, which shall include 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.
It shall also cover 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.
Law enforcement agencies, such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, shall be part of the FOI Act.
The measure provides that information shall be given upon request to every Filipino citizen and it shall become the government agencies and public officials’ duty to disclose all records pertaining to official acts, transactions or decisions and government research data used as a basis for policy development.
“Access to public records means access to evidence vital to proving public officials accountable for wrongdoing. Also, the new bill provides a convenient procedure to facilitate access to information and remedies are also available for denial of access like administrative, civil and criminal penalties,” Del Mar said.
The bill provides that a Freedom of Information Manual shall be prepared for the use of the public and shall also be posted in each agency website.
Exceptions shall be granted if the information may compromise national security or interfere with any legitimate military or law enforcement operations, the bill states.
Del Mar said immunity from the act shall also be permitted if the information shall jeopardize the diplomatic and negotiating 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.
Furthermore, 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, health education shall not be part of the FOI Act.
On the other hand, the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth of all public officials shall be mandatory disclosed on an annual basis.
Public officials shall include the president, vice-president, Cabinet members, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, Supreme Court justices, constitutional commissioners and officers of AFP with the rank of a general.
All government agencies shall also publish datasets on the Open Date Philippines website and on local government websites.
The website shall be maintained and managed by an Open Data Task Force under the Office of the President.
Request for information can also be tracked using the websites of concerned government agency including the status, decision on the request and the matrix of the requests made.
Lastly, the principles of accountability and transparency, democracy, leadership and good governance shall be integrated in the primary and secondary curriculum to guarantee understanding of the FOI Act.