HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES \,
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL No. 843

Tatroduced by CIBAC Party List Representative
Sherwin N. Tugna

AN ACT TOSTRENGTHEN THE RIGHT OF CITIZENS TO INFORMATION
HELD BY THE GOVERNMENT

EXPLANATORY NOTE

‘The tight of the people to information held by the govemment is an indispensable element
of a functioning representative democracy. The ideal “government by the people” presupposes
that the people have access to information held by the govemment in order to effectively exercise
its goveming power. As observed by the Philippine Supreme Court in one case, “There can be
no realistic perception by the public of the nation's problems, nor a meaningful
democratic decision making if they are denied access to information of general
interest.” The free flow of information about the affairs of government paves the
way for debate in public policy, and fosters accountability in government.

‘The right of the people to information held by the govemment is not only a political
imperative. Itis also essential in economic life. A free flow of information on matters of public
information results in better government policies. It provides institutional foundation for a more
responsive goverment planning by enhancing the capacity of the public to provide timely feedback
to govemment. ‘The availability of information held by the govemment widens the base for the
generation of more knowledge about key development issues, not only by researchers and
academic institutions, but also by the public at kage. It promotes constructive and informed debate
between and among govemment and stakeholders, and builds consensus around policy objectives
and overall framework. All these promote more informed govemment interventions supported
bya solid and broad-based constituency.

A free flow of information held by the govemment is also a vital safeguard against
comuption and rent seeking in govemment. ‘The economic costs of comuption and rent seeking are
well known. There is loss in consumer susplus arising from higher prices, as well as loss in output
because resources are wasted in rent-seeking activities such as bribery. Secrecy in govemment

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makes comuption and rent-seeking flourish. Tt gives government officals and rent-seckers alike a
wider room for manuever and a greater cover for any evidence in comuption. In contrast,
transparency exposes thee vested interests involved, leads to the identification of comupt officals,
and eventually develops a more level playing field among economic actors.

Finally, a free flow of information held by the govemment enhances economic
performance. ‘The availability of information of offical rus, policies, programs, and resource
allocation enables the private sector to make sound long-term, economic decisions. ‘This, in turn,
advances economic efficiency and competitiveness.

‘The Philippine Constitution guarantees the right of its people to information on matters of
public concem. Section 7 of the Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution states:

‘The right of the people to information on matters of public concem shall be
recognized. Access to official records, and to documents, and papers pertaining to
official acts, transactions, or decisions, as wellas to govemment research data used as
basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to limitations as
may be provided by law.

Jurisprudence has clarified key aspects of the right of the people to information
on matters of public concern, particularly its nature and scope. As regards its nature,
the Philippine Supreme Court has proclaimed that the right to information is not a
private right, but a public right, which may be asserted by any citizen. With respect to
its enforceability, the Philippine Supreme Court has ruled in the case of Legaspi vs. Civil
Service Commission that the Constitutional provisions on the right to information are
self-executing. As to the scope of the guarantee, the right covers information which
relates to matters of public concern.

Despite the Constitutional guarantee and the judicial affirmation of the right,
denial of access to information held by the government remains prevalent. This situation
will be mitigated by a law which grants every citizen the right to access information on
matters of public concern. This will complement the existing Constitutional
guarantee and relevant jurisprudence.

In view of this, this bill seeks to:

@) Put in place a uniform, simple, speedy and effective means of enforcing the
right to information on matters of public concern;

(b) Provide a clear penalty for the unlawful denial of right to information on
matters of public concern; and


(©) Clarify further the scope of the guarantee by defining its coverage,
exceptions, process of enforcing the right, and prescribing reasonable
limitations.

Immediate passage of the bill is earnestly sought.

SHE! |. TUGNA


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 84 3

Introduced by CIBAC Party List Representative
Sherwin N. Tugna

AN ACT TO STRENGTHEN THE RIGHT OF CITIZENS TO INFORMATION
HELD BY THE GOVERNMENT

Be itenacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title — This Act shall be known as the “Freedom of Information Act of
2013.”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — The State recognizes the tight of the people to information
‘on matters of public concem, and adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all ts
transactions involving public interest, subject to the procedures and limitations provided by this Act.
This sight is indispensable to the exercse of the right of the people and their organizations to
effective and reasonable participation atall levels of social, political and economic decision-making.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms.— As used in this Act

@ “nformation” shall mean any secord, document, paper, report, letters, contract,
‘minutes and transcripts of offical meetings, maps, books, photographs, data, research
materia, film, sound and video recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data,
computer stored data, or any other like or similar data or material recorded, stored or
archived in whatever form or format, which are made, received or kept in or under the
control and custody of any goverment agency pursuant to law, executive order, rules
and regulations, ordinance or in connection with the performance or transaction of
official business by any government agency;

(©) “Govemment agency” shall inchade the executive, legislative and judicial branches as
well as the constitutional bodies of the Republic of the Phikppines inciding, but not kmited
to, the national govemment and all its agencies, departments, bureaus, offices and
‘nstrumentalites, constitutional commissions and constitutionally mandated bodies, local


govemments and all their agencies, regulatory agencies, chartered institutions, govemment-
owned or —controlled corporations, including wholly-owned or controlled subsidiares,
government financial institutions, state universities and colleges, the Amed Forces of the
Philippines, the Philippine National Police, all offices in the Congress of the Philippines
including the offices of Senators and Representatives, the Supreme Court and all lower
courts established by law;

(© “Official records” shall refer to information produced or received by a public officer or
employee, or by a govemment agency in an official capacity or pursuant to a public function
or duty. This shall not refer to the stage or status of the information;and

@ “Public records” shall include information required by law, executive onders, nus, or
regulations to be entered, keptand made publicly available by a govemment agency.

SECTION 4. Access to Information. — Every person who is a Filipino citizen has a right to and
shall, on request, be given access to any record under the control of a government agency.
Government agencies shall make available to the public for scnutiny, copying and reproduction in
the manner provided by this Act, ll information pertaining to official acs, transactions or decisions,
as well as govemment research data used as a basis for policy development, subject to the
exceptions enumerated under section 6 of this Act, regardless of their physical form or format in
which they are contained and by whom they were made.

SECTION 5. Presumption — ‘There shall be a legal presumption in favor of access to
information. ‘The request for information may be denied only if it clearly falls under the exceptions
provided under this Act.

SECTION 6. Exceptions. — Access to information shall be granted unkss:

@ The information is specifically authorized to be kept Secret under guidelines established
by an executive onder, and in fact properly classified pursuant thereto: Provided, ‘That 1)
‘The information directly relates to national security or defense and its revelation may
cause grave damage to the national security ot intemal and extemal defense of the State;
or 2) The information requested pertains to the foreign affairs of the Republic of the
Philippines, when its revelation shall unduly weaken the negotiating position of the
government in an ongoing bilteral or multiteral negotiation or seriously jeopardize the
diplomatic relations of the Philpppines with one or more states; Provided farther, That
the executive order shall specify the reasonable period after which the information shall
be automatically declassified or subject to mandatory declassification review, and that
any reasonable doubt as to chssification and declassification shall be settled in favor of
the sight to information;


() The information consists of records of minutes and advice given and opinions
expressed during decision-making or policy formuktion, invoked by the Chief
Executive to be privileged by reason of the sensitivity of the subject matter or of the
impairment of the Chief Executive’s deliberative process that would result from the
disclosure thereof. Once policy has been formulated and decisions made, minutes and
research data may be made available for disclosure unless they were made in executive

session;

© The information requested pertains to internal and/or extemal defense, lw
enforcement, and border control, when the disclosure thereof would:

0)

@

(i)
@)

i)

unduly compromise or interfere with any legitimate military or hw
enforcement operation, or

unduly compromise or interfere with the prevention, detection or
suppression of criminal activity, the effective implementation of immigration
controls and border security, or

deprive a person ofa right to a fae tral or an impartial adjudication, or

lead to the disclosure of the identity of a confidential source, including a
govemment, or forcign agency or authority or any private institution which
fumished information on a confidential basis, and, in the case of a record or
information compiled by a kw enforcement authority in the course of an
investigation or by an agency conducting a lawful national security
intelligence investigation, information furnished by a confidential source, or

disclose techniques and procedures for nw enforcement investigations or
prosecutions, or would discbse guidelines for law enforcement
investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be
expected to risk circumvention of the law, or

endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.

@ The information requested consists of dafis of omders, resolutions, decisions,
memoranda or audit reports by any executive, administrative, regulatory, constitutional,
judicial or quasi-judicial body in the exercise of their regulatory, audit and adjudicatory
function;

ton;
© The information requested is obtained by any committee of either House of Congress

in executive session;


(The information requested pertains to the personal information of a natural person
other than the requesting party, and its disclosure would clearly constitute an
unwarranted invasion of his or her personal privacy, unless it forms part of a public
record, or the person is or was an official of a govemment agency and the information
relates to his or her public function or the person has consented in writing to the
disclosure of the information;

@ The information requested pertains to trade secrets and commercial or financial
information obtained from a natural or juridical person other than the requesting party,
obtained in confidence or covered by privileged communication, and/or filed with a
govemment agency, whenever the revelation thereof would seriously prejudice the
interests of such natusal or juridical person in trade, industrial, financial or commercial

competition;

(1) The information is classified as privileged communications in legal proceedings by law
or by the Rules of Court

@ The information requested is exempted by law or the Constitution, in addition to those
provided in this section; and

@ The information has already been made accessible as provided for in Section 10.

For letters (©) to @) of this section, the determination whether any of these grounds shall apply shall
be the responsibility of the head of office of the government agency in custody or control of the
information, or any responsible central or field officer/s duly designated by him. Provided, that:

(A) The exceptions are strictly construed;
@) The exceptions are not used to cover-up a crime, wrongdoing, graft, or comuption;

@) Whenever the information covered by an exception may be reasonably severed from a
record, the record shall be released with the exempt information redacted, or the
information not covered by the exception shall otherwise be communicated to the
requester

@) The President, the Supreme Court, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the
Constitutional Commissions may waive an exception with respect to information in the
custody of offices under their respective supervision or control, when they deem that there
is an overriding public interest in disclosure; and

© The exceptions do not constitute authority to withhold information from Congress, nor
authority for the executive branch of a local govemment unit to withhold information from
the legislative body of such local govemment unit.

7


SECTION 7. Mandatory Disclosure of Information. — (3) In fulfillment of Article XI, Section
17 of the Constitution the following national officals shall provide to the public their Statement of
Assets, Liabilities, and Net worth GALN) on an annual basis on their official website:

(1) the President,
(2) the Vice- President,

@) the Members of the Cabinet,

@ the Congress,

©) the Supreme Court,

© the Constitutional Commissions and other constitutional offices, and
) officers of the armed forces with general or flag rank.

(©) All agencies of all branches of govemment shall upload on theit websites, which shall
be updated monthly, a register of the following;

®
@

(ii)

@)

Freedom of Information Manual in ful
Rules of procedure, descriptions of forms available or the places at which
forms may be obtained, and instructions as to the scope and contents of all
Papers, reports, or examinations;

Substantive mules of general applicabiliy adopted as authorized by law, and
statements of general policy or intexpretations of general applicability
formulated and adopted by the agency, including subsequent amendments;
Public interest documents or records, including:

(Annual Budget of Govemment Agencies;

Qltemized Monthly Collections and Disbursement;

@)Summary of Income and Expenditures;

Component of the IRA Utilization;

()Annual Procurement Plan and Procurement List,

@ltems to Bid;

(Bid Results on Civil Works, and Goods and Services;

@)Abstract of Bids as Calculated;

()Procurement contracts entered into by a govemment agency;
(10)Construction or concession agreements or contracts entered into by a
government agency with any domestic of foreign person or entity;
(11)Private sector participation agreements or contracts in infrastructure and
development projects under Republic Act No. 6957, as amended by
Republic Act No. 7718, authorizing the financing, construction, operation
and maintenance of infrastructure projects;

(12)Public funding extend8d to any private entity;


(13)Bikateral or multilateral agreements and treaties in trade, economic
partnership, investments, cooperation and similar binding commitments;
(I4)List of persons or entities who were granted licenses, permits or
agreements for the extraction and/or utilization of natural resources given by
any governmentagency;

(15)Projects identified by legshtors pursuant t0 any Congressional
allocations, including the Priority Development Assistance Fund, the
Financial Subsidy to Local Government Units, the Regular Congressional
Allocation for infrastructure projects under the Department of Public
Works and Highways, Congressional Insertions, and other similar
Congressional allocation modalities;

(16 Statement of Assets and Liabilities of the public officers of the
governmentagency;

(17)Guarantees given by any govemment agency to govemment-owned or -
controlled corporations and to private corporations, persons or entities;

‘The register shall contain a brief description of the transaction involved, including, but not limited
tor the nature and object of the transaction, the parties and amounts involved, the key steps
undertaken towards its conclusion, and the relevant dates provided that contracts and agreements
involving an amount of atleast fifty million pesos (P50,000,000.00) shall be uploaded in full on the
website of the concemed goverment agency or the Offical Gazette Online subject to the
succeeding section. A covered record shall be enrolled in the register not later than 30 working days
from its perfection or issuance.

© Allgovernment agencies shall over time endeavor and build the capacity and practice to
upload in full al other contracts, agreements, or treaties covered under this section,
especially those that are of the highest public interest by reason of the amounts involved
and the impact of the transaction to the public. All govemment agencies must ensure
that they have a compliant website within two (2) years from the effectivity of this Act;

@ Should an agency lack the capacity to comply with the website uploading requirement of
this section, the agency shall initiate a capacity-building program, coordinate with
another appropriate agency, or use an altemative mechanism, to faciliate substantive
compliance not hter than three (3) years from the effectivity of this Act

SECTION 8. Promotion of Openness in Government —

@ Duty to Publish Information — Govemment agencies shall regularly publish, print and
disseminate at no cost to the public and in an accessible form, in conjunction with Republic
Act 9485, or the AntiRed Tape Act of 2007, and through their website, timely, true,
accurate and updated key information including, but not limited to:

9


(2) A description of its mandate, structure, powers, functions, duties and decision-
making processes;

@) A description of the frontline services it delivers and the procedure and length
of time by which they may be availed of,

@) The names of its key officals, their powers, functions and responsibilities, and
their profiles and curriculum vitae;

(4 Work programs, development plans, investment plans, projects, performance
targets and accomplishments, and budgets, revenue allotments and expenditures;
6) Important rules and regulations, orders or decisions: Provided, that they be
published within fifteen (15) calendar days from promulgation;

© Current and important database and statistics that it generates;

Bidding processes and requirements; and

(8) Mechanisms or procedures by which the public may participate in or
otherwise influence the formulation of policy or the exercise ofits powers.

(©) Accessibility of Language and Form —Every goverment agency shall endeavor to
translate key information into major Filipino nnguages and present them in popular form

and means.

© Improving Capability — Every govemment agency shall ensure the provision of adequate
training for its officals to improve awareness of the tight to information and the provisions
of this Act, and to keep updated as to best practices in relation to information disclosure,
records maintenance and archiving,

SECTION 9. Coverage — This Act shall cover all govemmentagencies as defined under section 3

SECTION 10. Exemption From Compliance. — The govemment agency is excused from
complying with a subsequent identical or substantally similar request from the sume requesting
party where it has previously complied with a request for information unkess a reasonable interval
has lapsed between complance with the previous request and the making of the current request
provided that the goverment agency complies with Section 18 of this Act.

SECTION 11. Additional Protection of Privacy. — While providing for access to information in
public records, this Act also affords full protection of the right to privacy of individuals, as follows:

@) A govemment agency must ensuse that personal information in its custody or under its

control is disclosed only as permitted under this Act,

10


(©) A govemment agency must 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;and

© An employee, officer or director of a govemment agency who has access, whether
authorized or unauthorized, to personal information in the custody of the agency, must
not disclose that information exceptas authorized under this Act.

SECTION 12. Administrative Liability. — The acts enumerated in this Section shall be
‘tantamount to gross neglect of duty and shall constitute grounds for administrative and disciplinary
sanction against any public offical or employee who willfully and knowingly commits the following:

@ Refusal to promptly forward the request under Section 16 of this Act to the public
officer within the same office or agency responsible for officially acting on the request
when such & the direct cause of the failure to disclose the information within the periods

required by this Act
(©) Failure to act on the request within the petiods required by this Act,

© Chim an exception under Section 6 of this Act when the chim is manifestly devoid of
factual or legal basis;

@ Refusal to comply with the decision of his immediate supervisor, the Ombudsman, of
of any court ordering the release of information;

© Approval of policies, ules and regulations manifestly contrary to the provisions of this
Act, and which policies, sules and regulations are the direct cause of the denial of a
request for information.

SECTION 13. Criminal Liability: — (a) Any public official or employee who falsely denies or
conceals the existence of information mandated for disclosure under this Act shall be able for the
crime of removal, concealment or destruction of documents as defined under Article 226 of the
Revised Penal Code.

(©) Any public official or employee who destroys, or causes to be destroyed, information
and/or documents being requested under this Act, for the purpose of frustrating the
requesting party’s access thereto, shall be lable for the crime of removal, concealment or
destruction of documents as defined under Article 226 of the Revised Penal Code.

(© Any private individual who knowingly induced or caused the commission of the

1


foregoing acts shall be lable as principal by inducement in the prosecution of public officals
cor employees under this section.

SECTION 14. Mere Denial Not a Ground for Liability. — \ mere denial in good faith of

a request made pursuant to the provisions of this Act shall not constitute grounds for administrative
sanction or criminal lability.

SECTION 15. Implementation Requirements. — (a) For the effective implementation of

this Act all government agencies shall prepare a Freedom of Information Manual, setting forth the
following:

(1) The location and contact information of the head, regional, provincial and field offices,
and other established places where the public can obtain information or submit
requests;

2) The types of information it generates, produces, holds and/or publishes;

@) A description ofits record-keeping system;

(@ The person or office responsible for receiving requests for information;

6) The procedure for the filing of requests personally, by mail, or through the identified
clectromic means;

(© The standard forms for the submission of request and for the proper acknowledgment
of the request;

(7) The process for the disposition of the request, including the routing of the request to the
person or office with the duty to act on the request, the decision-making process, and
the grant or denial ofaccess and its implementation;

8) The procedure for the administrative appeal of any denial for access to information;

(©) The schedule of fees;

(10) The process and procedure for the mandatory disclosure of information under

Section 7 of this Act; provided that, should the agency lack the capacity to comply

with Section 7 of this Act, a brief descsiption of its plan to facilitate complance
within three @) years from the approval of this Act, and

12


(11) Such other information, taking into consideration the unique characteristics of an
agency, that will help facilitate the effective implementation of this Act.

(©) The foregoing information shall also be posted in its website and bulletin boards, and shall be
regukly updated;

© In no case shall the absence of the aforementioned Manual be a reason for the denial of any
request for information made in accordance with this Act

@ The heads of each of the departments and agencies may designate Taison units or Committees
who shall coordinate with the other units of the agency in implementing this act.The composition,
functions and duties of these liaison units or Committees shall be set out in the Implementing Rules
of this Actand shall be included in the Freedom of Information Manual.

SECTION 16. Procedure of Access. — (@) Any person who wishes to obtain information shall
submit, free of charge, a request to the govemment agency concemed personally, by mail, or
through electronic means. A person who is unable, because of illiteracy or due to being a person
with disability, to make a written request for information may make an oral request, and the public
official who receives the oral request shall reduce it to writing, and include his name and position
within the goverment agency, and give a copy thereof to the person who made the request. The
request shall state the name and preferred contact information of the requesting party, and
reasonably describe the information required, the reason for the request of the information and the
preferred means by which the govemment agency shall communicate such information to the
requesting party: Provided, ‘That the stated reason shall not be used as a ground to deny the request
ot to refuse the acceptance of the request, unless such reason i contrary to law. If the request is
submitted personally, the requesting party shall show his current identification card issued by any
govemment agency, ot govemment or private employer or school, or a. community tax certificate
If the request is submitted by mail or through electronic means, the requesting party may submit a
photostatic or electronically scanned copy of the identification, or other convenient means as
determined by the agency.

©) The public offical receiving the request shall provide reasonable assistance, free of charge, to
enable all requesters and particulary those with special needs, to comply with the request
requirements under this section.

© The request shall be stamped by the goverment agency, indicating the date and time of receipt
and the name, rank, tile and position of the receiving public officer or employee with the
comesponding signature, and a copy thereof fumished to the requesting party. In case the request is
submitted by electronic means, the goverment agency shall provide for an equivalent means by
which the requirements of this paragraph shall be met. Each govemment agency shall establish a
system to trace the status ofall requests for information received by it.

13


@ The request may indicate the requesting party’s preferred mode and means of receiving the
information requested, provided that the mode and means are reasonable, taking. into consideration
equipment normally available to the concemed govemment agency.

© A government agency may communicate the information requested in a form other than the
preferred means whenever such prefered means would unreasonably interfere with the effective
operation of the agency, the agency has no capabilty in communicating the information in the
preferred format or be detrimental to the preservation of the record.

(© The government agency shall comply with such request as soon as practicable, and in any case
within fifteen (15) working days from the receipt thereof. The period may be extended whenever
the information requested requires a search of the govemment agency’s field or satelite offices,
examination of voluminous records, the occurrence of fortitous events or other analogous cases.

( The government agency shall, in writing or through electronic means, notify the person making
the request of the extension, setting forth the reasons for such extension and the date when the
information shall be made available, which in no case shall result in an extension of more than

‘twenty 20) working days.

@ Once a decision is made to grant the request, the person making the request shall be notified of
such and pay the required access and processing fees.

(@) If the information is not held by the govemment agency to which the request was made, it shall
notify the requester that it does not hold the information, and indicate to the requester which
agency holds the record, if known. Whenever practicable, the agency receiving the request may also
cause the transfer of the request to the appropriate agency that holds the information: Provided,
‘That the period to comply with the request under this section shall begin to run only upon the
receipt of the agency to which the requests transfered.

SECTION 17. Access and Processing Fees. — Government agencies may charge a reasonable
fee to reimburse the actual cost of reproduction, copying or transcription and the communication
of the information requested. An agency may waive the fees whenever it is satisfied that the
requester i an indigent, or that the cost of reproduction is negligible, or that it is pursuant t0 a
program for proactive disclosure.

SECTION. 18. Notice of Denial ~ If the government agency decides to deny the request, in
whole or in part, it shall, as soon as practicable, and in any case within fifteen (15) working days
from the receipt of the request, notify the person making the request of such denial in writing or
through electronic means. The notice shall clearly set forth the ground or grounds for denial and the
circumstances on which the denial is based, and indicate available rights of reconsideration or

14


appeal. Failure to notify the person making the request of the denial, or of the extension, shall be
deemed a denial of the request for access to i

SECTION 19. Remedies in Cases of Denial — (a) In all govemment agencies other than the
judicial branch—

(1) Every denial of a request for access to information may be appealed to the Head of
Agency, following the procedure mentioned in Section 15 (@) (8) of this Act: Provided, That
the appeal must be filed within fifteen (15) calendar days from the receipt of the notice of
denial and must be decided within fifteen (15) calendar days from filing, Failure to resolve
the appeal within the aforementioned period shall constitute a denial of the appeal;

@ Instead of appealing or after the denial of the appeal, the person denied access to
information may file a verified complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman, praying that
the govemment agency concemed be directed to immediately afford access to the
information being requested Such complaint shall be resolved by the Office of the
Ombudsman within sity (60) calendar days from filing, or earlier when time is of the
essence, taking into account such factors as the nature of the information requested, context
of the request, public interestand danger that the information requested will become moot.
‘The Office of the Ombudsman shall promulgate its special rules of procedure for the
immediate disposition of complaints filed pursuant 0 this Section. Unless restrained or
enjoined, the decisions of the Office of the Ombudsman shall be immediately executory,
without prejudice to review in accordance with the Rules of Court.

@) Instead of filing comphint with the Office of the Ombudsman, whenevera request for
information is denied originally or on administrative appeal, the requesting pasty may fle a
verified petition for mandamus in the proper court, alleging the facts with certainty and
praying that judgment be rendered ordering the respondent, immediately or at some other
time to be specified by the court, to disclose the information and to pay the damages
sustained by the requesting party by reason of the denial. The procedure for such petition
shall be summary in nature.

@) In resolving a comphint or petition brought under the preceding paragraphs (2) and 3),
the Ombudsman or the court is empowered to receive the information subject of a chim of
exception under Section 6 herein and examine then in camera to determine the sufficiency
of the factual and legal basis of such chim, when such sufficiency cannot be reasonably
determined through evidence and circumstances apart from the information.

(b) In the Judicial Branch —‘The Judiciary shall be govemed by such remedies as promulgated by the
Supreme Court.

15


© The remedies under this section are without prejudice to any other administrative, civil or
criminal action covering the same act

@ The remedies available under this Act shall be exempt from the mules on non-exhaustion of
administative remedies and the application of the provisions of Republic Act No. 9285, otherwise
known as the Altemative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004.

© In case the requesting party has kimited or no financial capacity, the Public Attomey’s Office shall
be mandated to provide legal assistance to the requester in availing of the remedies provided under
this Act.

SECTION 20. Keeping of Reconds.— (a) Govemment agencies shall create and/or maintain in
appropriate formats, accurate and reasonably complete documentation or records of their
organization, policies, transactions, decisions, resolutions, enactments, actions, procedures,
operations, activities, communications and documents received or filed with them and the data
generated or collected. These shall inchide working files such as drafts or notes, whenever these
have been circulated within the agency for official purpose such as for discussion, comment of
approval or when these contain unique information that can substantially contribute to a proper
understanding of the agency organization, policies, transactions, decisions, resolutions, enactments,
actions, procedures, operations, and activities;

(©) Government agencies shall identify specific and chsses of offical records in their custody or
control that have continuing historical, administrative, informational, egal, evidentiary, or research
value for preservation by such agencies or their legitimate successors, ot for transfer to the National
Archives of the Phikppines. In addition, the National Archives of the Phikppines shall likewise
‘identify specific and classes of official records that it shall require agencies to preserve and transfer to
it

© In addition to the specific and classes of official records identified for preservation under letter
©) of this section, the following shall not be destroyed:

(1) Records pertaining to loans obtained or guaranteed by the govemment;

@Q Records of goverment contracts;

@) The dechmation under oath of the assets, labilities and net worth of public officers and
employees, as required by law; and

@ Records of official investigations pertaining to allegations of graft and comuption of
public officers.

@ Govemment agencies shall prepare, following standards and period promulgated pursuant to
Republic Act No. 9470 or the National Archives of the Philippines Act of 2007, a records

‘management program thatinchides the following:
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(1) A records maintenance system for the creation, selection, chssification, indexing and
filing of offical records that facilitate the easy identification, retrieval and communication of
information to the public;

2) A records maintenance, archival and disposition schedule providing a listing of records
under current use, for retention by the agency, for transfer to the National Archives, or for
destruction: Provided, ‘That destruction of the official records may be implemented only
upon approval of the National Archives of the Philippines;and

@) A specifications of the roles and responsibilss of agency personnel in the
implementation of such system and schedule.

© Inaddition to its function as repository ofall rakes and regulations issued by agencies as provided
under Book VIL, Chapter TI of the Administrative Code of 1987, the University of the Philippines
Law Center shall, in coordination with the Office of the President which has exclusive editorial and
printing jurisdiction over the Official Gazette, and with other relevant agencies, maintain a database,
and publish the same in print in Official Gazette or in digital or online form, the following:

(1) All kews of the Philippines and their amendments, from the petiod of the Philippine
Commission to the present,

@ Alll presidential issuances from November 15, 1935 to the present, including but not
limited, to executive orders, presidential proclamations, administrative orders, memorandum
circulars, general ordess, and other similar issuances,

@)_A chtabase of all appointments and designations made by the President of the
Philippines;and
Opinions of the Secretary of Justice.

SECTION 21. Publication in the Official Gazette. — For purposes of mandatory disclosure as

provided in section 7 of this Act, online publication in the Official Gazette website shall be
considered offical publication provided there shall be a timestamp in the said document.

For purposes of complance with Article 2 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, publication of the
following in the online version of the Official Gazette, with the comesponding timestamps on the
document, shall be considered as official publication:

@ Allimportant legislative acts and resolutions ofa public nature of the Congress of
the Philippines;

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(&) Allexecutive and administrative orders and proclamations of general application;

© Decisions or abstracts of decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals or
other courts of similar sank, as may be deemed by said courts of sufficient importance to be
so published;

@ Such documents or classes of documents as the President shall determine from time to
‘ume to have general application or which he may authorize so to be published.

However, other documents or classes of documents as may be requited to be published by law,
such as petitions and/or legal notices in connection with land tides, naturalization or special
proceedings shall continue to be published in the print version of the Official Gazette or in any
newspaper of genera citculation for purposes of compliance with the publication requirement.

SECTION 22. Act Not a Bar to Claim of Right to Information Under the Constitution. —
No provision of this Act shall be interpreted as a bar to any claim of denial of the sight to
information under Article III, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution.

SECTION 23. Separability Clause.—If any section or: ‘part of this Act is held unconstitutional, no
other section or provision shall be affected.

SECTION 24. Repealing Clause. — All hws, decrees, executive orders, niles and regulations,
issuances of any part thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, including sections 18, 24
and 25 of Executive Order No. 292 in relation to Article 2 of Republic Act No. 386, Memorandum
Circular No. 78 dated 14 August 1964 (Promulgating Rules Goveming Security of Classified Matter
in Govemment Offices), as amended, and Section 3, Rule IV of the Rules Implementing Republic
Act No. 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees), are
deemed repealed.

SECTION 25. Efféctivity. —'This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at
least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

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