FOI EO: Erroneous and Confusing

Screengrab from Manila Bulletin website.

JEERS TO the Manila Bulletin for its erroneous and confusing story that said the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill has been signed into law.

The Bulletin’s front-page report “Historic FOI signed into law” last July 25 said, “The public can finally gain greater access to government documents, including Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) of government officials, after President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the historic Freedom of Information (FOI) bill.”

However, the report also mentioned that the FOI is a “new executive order” that covers only government agencies under the executive branch. The four journalists in the byline of the report are clearly uninformed and confused.

The online version of the report has been updated and now carries the headline “Historic FOI signed into executive order” but the text remains the same.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the executive order “Operationalizing in the Executive Branch People’s Constitutional Right to Information and the State Policies of Full Public Disclosure and Transparency in the Public Service and Providing Guidelines Therefor” last Sunday, July 24. When the 16^th Congress failed to pass the FOI into law, the process requires a new bill to be submitted to the legislative process requiring both Senate and House approval.

As of this writing, several lawmakers including Senators Loren Legarda and Grace Poe have re-filed their respective versions of an FOI bill in Congress.