Free information The FOI program has revolutionized the way citizens and govt communicate
L E G I S L AT I O N
IS THE Freedom of Information (FOI) program working? On July 23, 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) 2, also known as Freedom of Information Program, which enables the public to gain access to information from government agencies.
Consequently, Presidential Communica-
eFOI Online Portal, on Nov. 25, 2016, to let Filipinos obtain government information through the internet. The website has been active for two years and is being used by many
papers to weather analysis reports and graphical data. Many Filipinos, however, are unaware of eFOI Online Portal.
Inside eFOI
In an interview with TheManilaTimes, PCOO Assistant Secretary Kristian Ablan said that as of Sept. 10, the portal has 290 government agencies on board since it opened in December 2016. Of said agencies, 97 percent or 186 belong to national government, 75 percent or 88 are government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), 11 are state universi-
water districts.
data and information for the public to pursuant to EO No. 2.
Ablan also said the portal has 6,646 requests on board, 36 percent of which were complied with and, 35 percent, pending. Legal documents formed the bulk of those requests at 42 percent, followed by requests for statistics, data sets, and programmatic reports at 39 percent.
In its 2018 eFOI Midyear Report, PCOO said 54 percent of the requests are for research purposes, while 27 percent are for either theses or school reports, and 13 percent and 6 percent are respectively for “other reasons” and for own personal consumption. “The portal provides a more convenient way in requesting for information, since the requesting party need see,
In 2013, then-Representative Leni Robredo (Camarines Sur, 3rd District), along with the late-representative Henedina Abad (Batanes, Lone District), authored House Bill 3237. On the same year, there was Senate Bill 1733, a consolidated version of the 11 similar Senate bills. But just like what happened in 2010, the bills’ progress in Congress took a standstill.
A PJR Reports article entitled “FOI: Foiled Again,” obtained by TheManilaTimes from Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, said the bill continued to languish despite claims by politicians to support it, as the House kept stalling it. While the House Committee on Public Information approved the consolidated bill on Nov. 27, 2013, Chairman Ben Evardone scheduled another hearing to approve the committee report instead of transmitting it formally to the plenary.
Leaders of civic groups had blamed thenPresident Benigno Aquino 3rd for keeping his silence regarding the motion for FOI Bill. Some critics believed, however, that the bill has stalled since a number of congressmen wanted to include “Right of Reply,” or the right to defend oneself from allegations hurled against him, in the bill’s provisions. Three years on, the Duterte administration decided to revive the bill in the form of EO No. 2.
Continuing efforts
Citing the People’s FOI Manual, Ablan said
continues to educate the people on the issue. A downloadable guidebook, the manual consists of procedures that the citizens must do in order to obtain information from government
help them understand more about FOI. The