Will the FOI be implemented in the current administration?
FOI – President Rodrigo Duterte will be issuing an executive order (EO) that would start the implementation of the proposed Freedom of Information (FOI) law.
According to a report on Inquirer, an official from Malacañang Palace recently proclaimed that Duterte’s administration will issue an executive order to implement the FOI.
The said FOI was made during the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III but wasn’t materialized after failing to pass in Congress.
In an interview with Presidential Communications Office Seceretary Martin Andanar, he revealed that the Palace is already preparing a draft of the coming EO.
“This week po abangan niyo po ang aming draft po at sana—hinahabol po namin ang draft po ng executive order para po sa Freedom of Information at i-a-anunsyo po namin iyan,” said Andanar.
[Wait this week for our draft – we are preparing the draft of the executive order of the Freedom of Information and we’ll be announcing it.]
The report added that the said delivery of the EO is among the commitments Duterte made months ago before sitting as the President of the Philippines.
“Kung ayaw ng Congress, I will start progressively, para walang satsat, yakyak,” Duterte said last May.
[If the Congress does not want to pass it, I will start progressively so that there would be not much talking.]
According to PhilStar, this FOI law would even allow the public to have greater access to government documents allowing every transaction to be transparent – through mass media.
According to Duterte, local government officials should not be afraid of having public access to certain documents – unless “they are hiding anything.”
The new President’s spokesman, Peter Laviña, said that Duterte will be pushing the FOI believing that transparency is “key to progress”.
The Freedom of Information Law is still pending in the Congress.
What can you say about the implementation of the Freedom of Information law being pushed by President Duterte?
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