THE Philippines shored up its image as a government with utmost respect and adherence to transparency and responsibility to its constituents with the 14th meeting of the International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC) in Pasay City.
The ICIC is a global network that connects information officials across the world, with nearly 120 delegates from various countries in attendance.
Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) exuberantly declared that “being your host this year is indeed a testament that the Philippine government recognizes access to information as a fundamental human right that must be upheld. We are proud to be part of this important discourse that will greatly impact the lives of the people we serve.”
‘While such campaigns against fake news and media literacy might be important enough to justify a budget allocation from the PCO, this is not what the public and media truly want, but an honest-to goodness FOI program, legislated and encompassing the whole of government.’
What testament is Cheloy Garafil talking about?
The highest that the Freedom of Information (FOI) program has attained is not a regular law but an executive order by former President Rodrigo Duterte – Executive Order No. 2 issued in 2016 – which lays down “a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest, subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law. The Duterte EO calls for a “meaningful exercise of the public of their right to access to information on public concerns” but limits the information that can be shared with the public, lists a lot of exceptions and gives heads of government agencies and instrumentalities a wide latitude to determine which information may or may not be disclosed. It is binding only to departments and agencies under the Executive Department, excluding the judiciary and legislative branches.
The Marcos administration further tweaked Duterte’s FOI by imposing more limitations, as contained in Memorandum Circular No. 15, issued on March 17, 2023 by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin with authority from the President.
Under the Marcos memorandum, disclosure exceptions include records of surveillance and wiretaps of terror suspects under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020; investigations by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission; state attorney-client privilege; information and court proceedings deemed confidential; cases of gender-based sexual harassment on streets and public spaces, and children in situations of armed conflict. Both the Duterte and Marcos circulars related to the FOI undermine the program’s declared policy of “full public disclosure” of official transactions.
The President assured the ICIC delegates that the Philippines will safeguard the FOI program, recognizing its important role in the government’s fight against misinformation and deception. This allowed him to segue on the topic of fake news, saying “we recognize as a matter of principle that fake news should have no place in modern society.”
Toward this end, Marcos announced that his government “will undertake a Media and Information Literacy Campaign, which shall be digital, multimedia, and youth-oriented.”
While such campaigns against fake news and media literacy might be important enough to justify a budget allocation from the PCO, this is not what the public and media truly want, but an honest-to-goodness FOI program, legislated and encompassing the whole of government.
