Aquino admin finally submits its version of FOI bill to House

UPDATED 5:00 p.m. - The Aquino administration has finally submitted to the House of Representatives its version of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill which aims to promote transparency by giving people greater access to government information.   In his speech during the 112th anniversary of the Manila Bulletin on Thursday, President Benigno Aquino III said the FOI bill was sent to their coalition partners in the Lower House that day.   “We want every other administration voted into power to work under the same standard of transparency and accountability that we have set for ourselves. This is a significant step toward achieving that goal,” he said.                                                   Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the FOI bill may not be included in the priority bills of the administration but its passage will be pursued vigorously.   “The FOI version we submitted yesterday was crafted way after decision on the 13 priority measures was made, President Aquino has finally authorized a version and we will pursue it vigorously,” Valte said in a text message to reporters.   Last month, Aquino ordered his Cabinet to ‘push ahead’ with the FOI bill.   Malacañang decided to adopt a version of the bill filed by Deputy House Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III. Overall intention   Communications Group Undersecretary Manolo Quezon III said last month the only change the President did to the draft bill was remove the proposed Information Commission . He said Aquino felt the commission would just add another layer of bureaucracy.   “The overall intention of this whole exercise, besides making it as democratic and consultative as possible, was precisely because we were all working under the view that we had to make the constitutional injunction making information a right of the public a living reality,” Quezon then said.   Earlier, The Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition, a group of media and civil society organizations pushing for transparency in government, accused Aquino of double-talk on the freedom of information policy, taking him to task for not mustering the political will to honor his campaign promise of pushing for the passage of the FOI bill more than a year after he took his oath of office.   The group said the FOI legislation is needed to “provide substantive, procedural, and institutional guarantee to the people’s constitutional right to information."   A consolidated version of the FOI bill has been pending before the House committee since February last year. Various versions of the proposed legislation, separately authored by 11 senators, are also pending committee approval at the Senate.   The FOI bill seeks to implement Article III, Section 7 and Article II, Section 28 of the 1987 Constitution and guarantees the rights of people to access information and documents of public interest, “subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law.”   In June 2010, the House of Representatives failed to ratify the bill due to lack of quorum, as well as objections from some congressmen. Easier access to information Meanwhile, at a press briefing Friday afternoon, Communications Undersecretary Manolo Quezon III said the 14-page administration proposed FOI bill facilitates easier and more efficient access of the public to information.                                                               The FOI bill provides mandatory disclosure of information such as the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth on an annual basis on their official website of the President, the Vice President, members of the Cabinet, Congress, Supreme Court, constitutional commissions and other constitutional officers and officers of the Armed Forces with general or flag rank.   Quezon said once the bill is approved, the public will be spared from the tedious work of trying to access information from different agencies as the information will be made available in one portal, the Official Gazette website being the official publication of the government.   Among the information that will be posted online are:  

• Important legislative acts and resolutions of a public nature of the Congress of the Philippines;
• Executive and administrative orders and proclamations of general application;
• Decisions or abstracts of decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals or other courts of similar rank, as may be deemed of sufficient importance to be so published;
• Such documents or classes of documents as the President shall determine to have general application.

The bill also asks government agencies to translate key information into major Filipino languages and present them in popular form and means.   All government agencies are required to prepare a Freedom of Information Manual that will contain details and procedures and serve as a guide on the matter.   Under the bill, those wanting to get information from the government should submit a request to the government agency concerned personally, by mail, or through electronic means.   The request will be stamped by the government agency, indicating the date, time and other details of receipt. When the request is submitted by electronic means, the government agency shall provide for an equivalent means by which the requirements shall be met.   The government agency shall comply with such request as soon as practicable, and in any case within 15 working days from receipt. The period may be extended for specific cases.   The government agency shall, in writing or through electronic means, notify the person making the request of the extension, the reasons for extension, and the date the information will be made available which is no more than 20 working days.   Once a decision is made to grant the request, the person making the request shall be notified of such and pay the required access and processing fees.   If the request is not granted, the government agency shall notify the person making the request of such denial in writing or through electronic means within 15 working days from the receipt of the request.   The notice shall clearly set forth the ground for denial and the circumstances on which the denial is based. Failure to notify shall be deemed a denial of the request for access to information.   Following the proper procedure, denial of a request for access to information may be appealed to the head of agency, then Ombudsman, then may file a verified petition for mandamus in the proper court.   The Judiciary shall, however, be governed by such remedies as promulgated by the Supreme Court.   Under the bill, among the information that could not be granted access to are those that :

• directly relates to national security or defense and its revelation may cause grave damage to the national security or internal and external defense of the State;

• pertains to the foreign affairs of the Republic of the Philippines, when its revelation shall/may unduly weaken the negotiating position of the government in an ongoing bilateral or multilateral negotiation or seriously jeopardize the diplomatic relations of the Philippines with one or more states;       

• records of minutes and advice given and opinions expressed during decision-making or policy formulation, invoked by the Chief Executive to be privileged by reason of the sensitivity of the subject matter or of the impairment of the Chief Executive’s deliberative process that would result from the disclosure thereof;

• information requested pertains to internal and/or external defense, lawenforcement, and border control;

• information requested consists of drafts of orders, resolutions, decisions, memoranda or audit reports by any executive, administrative, regulatory,constitutional, judicial or quasi-judicial body in the exercise of their regulatory, audit and adjudicatory function;

• information requested is obtained by any committee of either House of Congress in executive session.

• information requested pertains to the personal information of a natural person other than the requesting party, and its disclosure would clearly constitute an unwarranted invasion of his or her personal privacy, unless it forms part of a public record, or the person is or was an official of a government agency and the information relates to his or her public function or the person has consented in writing to the disclosure of the information;

• information pertaining to trade secrets and commercial or financial information that would seriously prejudice industrial, financial, or commercial competition;

• information classified as privileged communications in legal proceedings by law or by the Rules of Court;

• information exempted by law or the Constitution.

  The bill further states the exemptions should be strictly construed and not used to cover up a crime, wrongdoing, graft or corruption.   It also states that the President, the Supreme Court, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Constitutional Commissions may waive an exception with respect to information in the custody of offices under their respective supervision or control, when they deemt hat there is an overriding public interest in disclosure.   The exceptions also do not constitute authority to withhold information from Congress nor authority for the executive branch of a local government unit to withhold information from the legislative body of such local government unit.   Government personnel who will fail or refuse to forward the request for information, or act on the request or refuse to comply with the decision of his immediate supervisor, the Ombudsman or the court ordering the release of information will be liable for gross neglect of duty and will be under administrative and disciplinary sanction.   A mere denial in good faith of the request, however, does not constitute grounds for administrative sanction or criminal liability.   A request may be rejected if the information is publicly accessible or available, the agency has already provided the information, the information would violate personal privacy and if the information is exempted from disclosure. - VVP/KG/VS, GMA News