Void DENR’s FOI manual, SC urged

The Diocese of Marbel and the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC) on Tuesday filed a petition urging the Supreme Court to declare as unconstitutional the Freedom of Information (FOI) manual of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

In their 36-page petition, they argued that the FOI manual unlawfully restricts public access to information on environmental impact assessments for projects and activities that could harm the environment.

“The current FOI manual basically restricts ‘yung access ng lahat ng Filipino sa lahat ng environmental information,” lawyer Rolly Peoro said in an ambush interview.

(The current FOI manual basically restricts the access of all Filipinos to all environmental information.)

The petitioners also urged the High Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the respondents from further implementing the FOI manual.

They further asked the SC to order the respondents to grant them—and the public—access to environmental impact statements and other related environmental information.

The petitioners challenged the manual’s inclusion of up to 27 exceptions on the types of information accessible through the FOI mechanism.

“Sa case naman namin naranasan talaga namin kung paano dine-deny ng DENR ‘yung request namin for information, lalo na hinggil sa Tampakan Mining Project,” Bishop Cerilo Casicas said.

(In our case, we really experienced how the DENR consistently denied our requests for information, especially regarding the Tampakan Mining Project.)

“Tuwing request namin, sa level pa lang sa province, ipapasa kami sa region, tapos eventually ipapasa kami sa national. Hanggang sa national, nag a-appeal sila palagi dito sa kanilang FOI manual na hindi maibigay ‘yung information kasi kasama siya sa exceptions,” he added.

(Every time we made a request, it was bounced from the provincial office to the regional office, and eventually to the national office. At the national level, they would always cite their FOI manual, claiming the information couldn’t be provided because it fell under the listed exceptions.)

Casicas said that not one of their requests was granted.

The respondents are Executive Secretary Ralph Recto, who was just appointed Monday, and DENR Secretary Raphael Lotilla.

GMA News Online has reached out to them for comment and will update this story once their responses become available.

According to the LRC, their petition aligns with the widespread public demand for greater transparency in government projects.

“Para po sa LRC, alam naman ho natin na one of the critical components of democracy is well-informed citizens. So this petition is a call for transparency,” Peoro said.

(For the LRC, we know that one of the critical components of democracy is well-informed citizens. So this petition is a call for transparency.)

“We’re joining the calls na ayusin natin ‘yung ating information. Critical ito para doon sa ating issues, hindi lang sa flood control, pati sa environmental projects,” he added.

(We’re joining the calls to fix our information. This is critical for our issues, not only for flood control but also for environmental projects.)—MCG, GMA Integrated News