FOI

1. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Senate Bill 1733
People's Freedom
of Information
Act of 2013

2. Senator Escudero (Senate Bill 18)
Senator Trillanes (S.B. 36)
Senator Osmeña (S.B. 44),
Senator Honasan (S.B. 64),
Senator Guingona (S.B. 74),
Senator Alan Cayetano (S.B. 90),
Senator Ejercito (S.B. 217),
Senator Legarda (S.B. 514),
Senator Angara (S.B. 1219), and
Philippine Senate Resolution 102 by Senator Poe, as well as
the Petition for Indirect Initiative filed by civil society groups.
A consolidation of 10 legislative
proposals

3. History of the FOI Bill
• FOI bill has been discussed, dissected,
scrutinized, debated and bypassed by
previous Congresses;
• The very first FOI bill was filed in 1992;
• Senate Bill 1733 is substantially similar
to the version that was approved on
Third Reading by the previous 15th
Congress.

4. Commitment of the 16th Congress
• The Senate has passed the bill;
• The leadership of the House of
Representatives have openly
declared support for it;
• Malacañang has announced that
the FOI bill will be included in the
Administration’s list of priority
measures.

5. Getting it there…
• The Senate and the Lower House conducted
two (2) public hearings where views from the
broad spectrum of the Philippine society were
gathered and carefully studied;
• The academe, the Philippine business sector,
media organizations, civil society, social media
"netizens," the defense department and
Executive officials were consistently consulted.

6. Salient Points of Senate
Bill 1733

7. Full Title
• "An Act Implementing the People's Right to
Information and the Constitutional Policies of
Full Public Disclosure and Honesty in the
Public Service and For Other Purposes”
otherwise known as;
• The People's Freedom of
Information Act of 2013.

8. Constitutional Mandate
• People's right to information is
long enshrined in our
Constitution;
• The Declaration of Principles and
State Policies, and under Section
28, Article II of the Philippine
Charter;

9. Constitutional Mandate
• The people's "right to know" is recognized
in Section 7, Article III of the Constitution:
"The right of the people to information on
matters of public concern shall be recognized.
Access to official records, and to documents and
papers pertaining to official acts, transactions,
or decisions, as well as to government research
data used as basis for policy development, shall
be afforded the citizen, subject to such
limitations as may be provided by law."

10. Constitutional Mandate
• Senate Bill 1733 is to be the
implementing law of the
Constitutional Mandate;
• The measure provides the general
framework of rules and guidelines,
exemptions and limitations,
procedures and penalties in the
exercise of this right.

11. Highlighted Provisions of
Senate Bill 1733

12. Section 4
• the FOI rule on full public disclosure
covers all government agencies and
instrumentalities which includes the
Executive, Legislative, Judicial branches
of government, constitutionally-
mandated bodies, local governments as
well as government-owned-and-
controlled corporations (GOCCs) and
government financial institutions (GFIs);

13. Section 4
• "public service contractors" are
included such as foundations, non-
governmental organizations (NGOs)
and peoples' organizations (POs) as
among those to be covered by the
FOI law, insofar as their contract or
transactions with government are
concerned;

14. Section 5
• every Filipino citizen the right to
request and be granted access to
any record or information that is
under the control of government,
subject to the limitations
enumerated in the FOI Act.

15. Section 6
• "there shall be a legal
presumption in favor of access to
information. No request for
information shall be denied
unless it clearly falls under the
exceptions provided under the
Act."

16. Section 7
States the exceptions to the FOI rule
such as:
• Information that could cause serious damage to
national security and our country's internal
and/or external defense;
• Information that could unduly weaken our
country's bargaining position in international
negotiations or seriously affect diplomatic
relations with other countries;

17. Section 7
• Information that could compromise law
enforcement operations and endanger the life
of an individual;
• Information that was obtained by Congress in
executive session;
• Information covered by “Presidential
Privilege“;
• Information pertaining to trade secrets and
commercial information;

18. Section 7
• If the information requested would constitute
an unwarranted invasion of an individual's
right to privacy;
• Specific interpretation which states that..
“no exemptions be used to cover up a
crime, wrongdoing, graft or corruption”

19. Section 8
Requires government agencies to
upload on their respective websites
the following information:
• The Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net
Worth (SALNs) of those like the office of the
President, Vice President, Cabinet members,
members of both Houses of Congress, Justices of
the Supreme Court, members of Constitutional
Bodies, and officers of the Armed Forces of star
rank;

20. Section 8
• All information pertaining to their Annual
Budget, Monthly Disbursements, IRA
utilization, Procurement Plan, the list of
vacant positions in their agency, items for
bidding and the results of the bidding,
contracts entered into the government with
any domestic or foreign entity, bilateral or
multilateral treaties, licenses or permits
granted to any entity for the extraction of
natural resources;

21. Section 10
• the right to privacy of individuals shall
always be protected, and instructs
government agencies to "protect
personal information in its custody or
under its control by making reasonable
security arrangements against such risks
as unauthorized access, collection, use,
disclosure, or disposal."

22. Section 8
• loans entered into by government from
any domestic or foreign financial
institution including any transaction by a
government agency amounting to at
least 50 million pesos (50,000,000) shall
be uploaded in full on official online
platforms;

23. Section 11
• Provides the dissemination of an FOI
Manual and directs all government
agencies to list down the type and
kind of information generated so
that people will know what
information is obtainable from a
particular agency.

24. Section 12
• Section 12 of the FOI Act details the
appropriate procedure how requests
can be made from government
agencies;
• The same section requires government
officials to act and/or comply within
fifteen (15) working days upon receipt
of the request for information.

25. Section 16
• provides for a system of remedies in
case the request for FOI information is
denied;
• if the requesting party is not satisfied
with the action of a government agency,
he may file a verified complaint in the
Office of the Ombudsman or file a
verified petition for mandamus in a
regular court.

26. Section 17
• all government agencies are to observe good
record-keeping practices;
• The section requires the set-up information
management systems allowing easy identification,
retrieval and communication of the information to
the public;
• government agencies are to identify specific classes
of documents that have continuing historical, legal,
evidentiary or research values (that the FOI
stipulates they cannot dispose or destroy) and they
should transfer the same to National Archives of
the Philippines for preservation.

27. Section 19
• all government agencies are directed to set-up
their respective FOI-compliant web sites
within two (2) years after the law takes effect
• websites are encouraged to be user-friendly
and understandable to the layman;
• government agencies are "to use plain
language and translate important information
into major Filipino dialects" for people to be
able to appreciate the information better.

28. Sections 20 and 21
• state that government officers who violate the
FOI Act are criminally and administratively liable;
• Section 20 enumerates acts that constitute grave
administrative offenses (punishable by
suspension or dismissal from the service) such as
a.) failure to act on the request within the period
required by the Act and b.) refusal to comply
with the decision of an immediate superior, the
Ombudsman or of any court ordering the release
of information;

29. Sections 20 and 21
• Section 21 lists down the
various acts that make a
government officer criminally
liable for violations of the FOI
Act;

30. Sections 20 and 21
• The penalty of imprisonment shall be imposed
for not less than one (1) month but not more
than six (6) months if the following acts have
been committed:
a.) knowingly denying the existence of existing
information;
b.) destroying information being requested for
the purpose of frustrating the requester's
access;

31. Sections 20 and 21
c.) claim an exception
provided under the FOI Act,
when the claim is manifestly
devoid of factual basis.

32. Section 24
• the concept of "freedom of information"
be introduced in the public school
curriculum and integrated in subjects
such as Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika
(HEKASI) and Araling Panlipunan for the
elementary level or Social Studies and
Makabayan for the high school level;

33. Thank You