Exceptions down from 166 to 9 as FOI order takes effect Friday

The list of exceptions to President Rodrigo Duterte’s executive order implementing a freedom of information (FOI) in the executive branch has been cut down from 166 to nine as it takes effect Friday, Malacañang said. 

“We adapted the best practices of other countries which categorized and grouped several exceptions into major categories…The Philippines under EO 2 will have nine exceptions,” Kristian Ablan, assistant secretary on foreign and legislative affairs of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), said at a press briefing Thursday. 

A draft of the FOI Manual of the PCO released in August showed as one of its annexes 158 “exceptions to FOI” and six more listed as “other exceptions.”

Ablan explained that it was “just an inventory of different exemptions, by statue and by jurisprudence.” 

On November 25, all government agencies under the Executive branch should have their own people’s FOI manual and implementing details, Ablan said. 

Government agencies were given 120 days under the EO since it was signed back in July to give them time to comply with the need to come up with a manual. 

Ablan said officials of agencies which will not comply with the EO will face administrative sanctions. 

He, however, admitted that “implementing the FOI will not be done overnight.” 

“We informed them that it’s alright to come up with a provisional manual,” he said. 

The list of FOI exceptions include: 

• Information covered by Executive privilege; 
• Privileged information relating to national security, defense or international relations; 
• Information concerning law enforcement and protection of public and personal safety; 
• Information deemed confidential for the protection of the privacy of persons and certain individuals such as minors, victims or crimes, or the accused; 
• Information, documents or records known by reason of official capacity and are deemed as confidential, including those submitted or disclosed by entities to government agencies, tribunals, boards, or officers, in relation to the performance of their functions, or to inquiries or investigation conducted by them in the exercise of their administrative, regulatory or quasi-judicial powers; 
• Prejudicial premature disclosure; 
• Records of proceedings or information from proceedings which, pursuant to law or relevant rules and regulations, are treated as confidential or privileged; 
• Matters considered confidential under banking and finance laws, and their amendatory laws; and 
• Other exceptions to the right to information under laws, jurisprudence, rules and regulations. 

Ablan said the Executive Secretary will issue a memorandum circular detailing specific instances that fall under each category. 

E-FOI facility 

Meanwhile, an electronic-FOI facility will be launched in Malacañang Friday afternoon. 

As the e-FOI is still in beta version, Ablan said requests can be filed online via www.foi.gov.ph, but only 15 agencies can be accessed. 

“Outside the 15 agencies, you have to go through the offices,” he said. 

Under the EO, government agencies are given 15 working days to comply with FOI requests. The period to respond may be extended to 20 working days whenever the information requested requires extensive search and examination of records. 

Ablan said Malacañang is hopeful that Congress will soon be able to pass an FOI law. 

“Hopefully, we will be able to convince our legislators to pass an FOI act because, as you know, an executive order cannot pass above higher than law,” he said.  — RSJ, GMA News