Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
‘Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 2128

Introduced by Rep. Winston T. Castelo

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill, to be known as the Freedom of Information Act of 2010, seeks the
marriage between the right of the people to information on matters of public concen

and the State policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public
interest

This piece of legislation lays the cultural groundwork toward a healthy notion
of public accountability and transparency in all the acts and disposition of the
administrative agents of the government. Indeed, the needs of the general public
and their pursuit for policy-relevant information have to be met, a sine qua non toa
vibrant democracy.

Thus, individuals and their organizations should be accorded the right of
access to all types of information held by government agencies or public authorities
80 they can effectively participate at all levels of social, political and economic
decision-making.

It now shall dawn upon government to promote this culture of openness with
the end in view of ‘regularly publishing, printing, and disseminating at no cost to the
public and in accessible form timely, true, accurate and updated information’ subject
only to the exceptions set forth under the proposed measure.

It shall behoove upon government agencies or public authorities to maintain
and preserve their records in a manner that will facilitate easy identification, retrieval
and communication to the public’ as well as possibly craft a Code o ethat
sets the guidelines for publications and policy.

In this light, the immediate approval of this Freed
earnestly sought.

2" Djstrict, Quezon City


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNo. 2128

Introduced by Rep. Winston T. Castelo

AN ACT
IMPLEMENTING THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO INFORMATION ON MATTERS.
OF PUBLIC CONCERN AND THE STATE POLICY OF FULL PUBLIC
DISCLOSURE OF ALL ITS TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING PUBLIC
INTEREST AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

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

SECTION 1. Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Freedom of Information Act
of 2010".

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — The State recognizes the right of the people to
information on matters of public concer, and adopts and implements a policy of full public
disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest. This right is indispensable to the
exercise of the people and their organizations to effective and reasonable participation at all
levels of social, political and economic decision-making

SEC. 3. Coverage. - This Act shall cover all government agencies as defined under
Section 4 of this Act.

SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act:

(a) “Information” shall mean any knowledge, record, document, papers, letters,
contract, minutes and transcripts of official meetings, maps, books,
photographs, data, research material, 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 government agency or public authority pursuant to law, executive order,
rules and regulation, ordinance or in connection with the performance or
transaction of official business by any government agency.

(b) “Government agency” shall include the executive, legislative and judicial
branches as well as the constitutional bodies of the Republic of the Philippines
including, but not limited to, the national government and all its agencies,
departments, bureaus, offices and instrumentalities, constitutional commissions
and constitutionally mandated bodies, local government and all their agencies,
regulatory agencies, chartered institutions, government-owned subsidiaries,
government-owned-or-controlled-corporations, including wholly-owned or


controlled subsidiaries, government financial institutions, state universities and
colleges, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police,
offices in the Congress of the Philippines including the offices of Senators and
Representatives, the Supreme Court and all lower courts established by law.

(c) ‘Official records” shall refer to information produced or received by a public
officer or employee, or by a government agency in an official capacity or
pursuant to a public function or duty, and is not meant to be a stage or status of
the information.

(d) "Public records” shall include information required by law, executive orders,
rules, or regulations to be entered, kept and made publicly available by a
government agency.

SEC. 5. Presumption. — There shall be a legal presumption in favor of access to
information. Accordingly, government agencies shall have the burden of proof of showing by
clear and convincing evidence that the information requested is exempted from disclosure by
this Act.

SEC. 6. Access to Information. - Government agencies shall make available to the
public for scrutiny, copying and reproduction in the manner provided by this Act, all
information pertaining to official acts, transactions or decisions, disposition, as well as.
government research data used as basis for policy development, regardless of their physical
form or format in which they are contained and by whom they were made.

SEC. 7. Exceptions. - Subject to the qualifications set forth in Section 8 of this Act,
access to information may be denied when:

(2) The revelation of the information requested will create a clear and present
danger of war, invasion or any external threat to the State as determined and
certified by the Office of the President andlor the Secretary of the Department of
National Defense;

(b) The information requested pertains to the foreign affairs of the Republic of
the Philippines, when its revelation would unduly weaken the negotiating position of
the government in an ongoing bilateral or multilateral negotiation or seriously
jeopardize the diplomatic relations of the Philippines with one or more states with
which it intends to keep friendly relations;

(c) The information requested pertains to internal and external defense and
law enforcement, when the revelation thereof would render a legitimate military
operation ineffective, unduly compromise the prevention, detection or suppression of
a criminal activity, or endanger the life or physical safety of confidential or protected
sources or witnesses, law enforcement and military personnel or their immediate
families

(d)_The information requested pertains to the personal information of a
natural person other than the requesting party, and its disclosure would constitute a
clearly 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 government agency and the
information requested relates to his or her public function, or the person consented to
the disclosure of the requested information;

(e) The information requested pertains to trade, industrial, financial or
commercial secrets of a natural or juridical person other than the requesting party,
obtained in confidence by, andior filed with a government agency, whenever the
revelation thereof would seriously prejudice the interests of such natural or juridical
person in trade, industrial, financial or commercial competition, unless such natural or
juridical person has consented to the disclosure of the requested information;

(f) The information requested is privileged from production in legal
proceedings by law or by the Rules of Court, unless the person entitled to the
privilege has waived it;


(g) The information requested is exempted by law, in addition to those
provided in this Section;

{(h) The information requested is obtained by any committee of either House
of Congress in executive session, whenever such information falls under any of the
foregoing exception:

(i) The information requested consists of drafts of decisions by any executive,
administrative, judicial or quasi-judicial in the exercise of their adjudicatory functions
whenever the revelation thereof would reasonably tend to impair the impartiality of
verdicts, or otherwise obstruct the administration of justice.

(k) The information requested would or would be likely to prejudice the
exercise by any government agency of its auditing functions as when it relates to
audit or examination of the accounts of other government agencies or offices into the
efficiency, economy and effectiveness with which they use their resources to
discharge their public functions.

(I) The information requested, in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person,
would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.

SEC. 8. Qualifications. ~ Even if the information falls under the exceptions set forth
in the preceding section, access to information shall not be denied if:

(a) The information requested may be reasonably severed from the body of
the information which would be subject to exceptions;

(b) The public interest in the disclosure outweighs the harm to the interest
sought to be protected by the exceptions; or

(c) The requesting party is either House of Congress, or any of its
Committees, unless the disclosure will constitute a violation of the Constitution;

SEC. 9. Procedure of Access. - (a) Any person who wishes to obtain information
shall submit a request to the government agency concerned personally, by mail or through
electronic means. 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 government agency shall
communicate such requested information to the requesting party: Provided, that the stated
reason or the failure to state the reason for the request of the information, shall not be used
as a ground to deny the request or to refuse the acceptance of the request, unless such
reason is contrary to law. If the request is submitted personally, the requesting party shall
show his current identification card issued by any government agency, or government 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.

(b) The request shall be stamped by the government agency, indicating the date and
time of receipt and the name, rank, title and position of the receiving public officer or
employee with the corresponding signature, and a copy thereof furnished to the requesting
party. In case the request is submitted by electronic means, the government agency shall
provide for an equivalent means by which the requirements of this paragraph shall be met.

(c) The request may indicate the following preferred means of communication:

(1) A true copy of the information requested in permanent or other form;

(2) An opportunity to inspect the requested information, using equipment
Normally available to the government agency when necessary;

(3) An opportunity to copy the requested information using personal
equipment;

(4) A written transcript of the information requested contained in an audio or
visual form;

(5) A transcript of the content of the information requested, in print, sound or
visual form, where such transcript is capable of being produced using
equipment normally available to the government agency:


(6) A transcript of the requested information from shorthand or codified form
or
(7) Other reasonable means or format.

(d) A government agency may communicate the information requested in a form
other than the preferred means whenever such preferred means would unreasonably
interfere with the effective operation of the agency, or be detrimental to the preservation of
the record;

(e) The government agency shall comply with such request within seven (7) calendar
days from the receipt thereof.

{f) The time limits prescribed in this Section for the production of the requested
information may be extended whenever there is a need for any of the following:

(1) To search for and collect the requested information from field facilities or
other establishments that are separate fro the office processing the request;
(2) To search for, collect and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of
separate and distinct information which are demanded in a single request;

(3) Consultation, which shall be conducted in all practicable speed, with
another government agency or among two (2) or more components of the
government agency having substantial interest in the determination of the
request; and

(4) To consider fortuitous events or other events due to force majeure or other
analogous cases.

(g) 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 requested shall be made available: Provided, that no such
notice shall specify a date that would result in a extension of more than fifteen (15) calendar
days from the original deadline.

SEC. 10. Access 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.

SEC. 11. Notice of Denial ~ If the government agency decides to deny the request,
in whole or in part, it shall, within seven (7) calendar 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 indicate the name, rank, title or position of the person making the
denial, and the grounds for the denial. In case the denial is by reason of a claimed
exception, the denial shall state clearly the legitimate aim or interest sought to be protected
in the confidentiality, and the facts and circumstances showing the substantial harm to, or
frustration of, the legitimate aim or interest that will result in the disclosure of the information
requested. 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 information.

SEC. 12. Implementation Requirements. — (a) For the effective implementation of
this Act, every government agency shall prepare a Freedom of Information Manual, which
shall include the following information:

(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;

(3) A description of its record-keeping system;

(4) The person or office responsible for receiving requests for information;

(5) The procedure for the filing of requests personally, by mail, or through the
identified electronic means;

(6) The standard forms for the submission of request and for the proper
acknowledgement 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, and the grant or denial of access and its implementation;

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

(9) The schedule of fees;

(10) The process and procedure for the mandatory disclosure of information under
Section 14 of this Act;

(11) Should the agency lack the capacity to comply with Section 14 (a) of this Act,
a brief description of its plan to facilitate compliance with three (3) years from
the approval of this Act; and

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

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

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

SEC. 13. Remedies in Cases of Denial. — (a) In all government agencies other than
the judicial branch -

(1) Every denial of any request for access to information may be appealed to
the person or office next higher in authority, following the procedures
mentioned in Section 12 (8) of this Act: Provided, that the appeal must be
filed within fifteen (15) calendar days from filing. Failure of the
government agency to decide within the aforestated period shall
constitute a denial of the appeal; and

(2) Instead of appealing or after the denial of the appeal, the person denied
access to information may filed a verified complaint with the Office of the
Ombudsman praying that the government agency concerned be directed
to immediately afford access to the information being requested. Such
complaint shall be resolved b the Office of the Ombudsman within sixty
(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 interest and danger that the
requested information will become moot. The Office of the Ombudsman
shall promulgate its special rules of procedure for the immediate
disposition of complaints filed pursuant to this Section. Unless restrained
or enjoined, the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman shall be
immediately executory, without prejudice to review in accordance with the
Rules of Court

(3) Instead of filing a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman, whenever
a request for information is denied originally or on administrative appeal,
the requesting party may file 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 requested and to
pay the damages sustained by the requesting party by reason of the
denial. The procedures for such petition shall be summary in nature.

(b) In the Judicial Branch - The Supreme Court shall promulgate the

remedies that would govern offices under its jurisdiction.

(c) The remedies under this section are without prejudice to any other

administrative, civil or criminal action that may arise from the same act.

(d) The remedies available under this Act shall be exempt from the rules on

Non-exhaustion of administrative remedies and the application of the provision of



Republic Act No. 9285, otherwise known as the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of
2004.

{e) In case the requesting party has limited or no financial capacity, the
Public Attorney's Office shall be mandated to provide legal assistance o the
requesting party in availing of the remedies provided under this Act.

SEC. Mandatory Disclosure of Transactions Involving Public Interest—

(a) Subject to Sections 7 and 8 of this Act, all government agencies shall upload on

their websites, which shall be regularly updated every fifteen (15) days, all the steps,

negotiations and key government positions pertaining to the definite propositions of
the government, as well as the contents of the contract, agreement or treaty in the
following transactions involving public interest:

(1) Compromise agreements entered into by a government agency with any
person or entity involving any waiver or its rights or claims;

(2) 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;

(3) Procurement contracts entered into by government agency;

(4) Construction or concession agreements or contracts entered into by a
government agency with any domestic or foreign person or entity;

() Loans, grants, development assistance, technical assistance and
programs entered into by a government agency with official bilateral or
multilateral agencies, as well as with private aid agencies or institutions;

(8) Loans from domestic and foreign financial institutions;

(7) Guarantees given by any government agency to government-owned-or-
controlled-corporations and to private corporations, persons or entitie

(8) Public funding extended to any private entity;

(9) Bilateral or multilateral agreements and treaties in defense, trade,
economic partnership, investments, cooperation and similar binding
commitments; or

(10)Licenses, permits or agreements given by any government agency to any
person or entity for the extraction and/or utilization of natural resources.

A summary list of the foregoing information uploaded in the website shall be posted

in the bulletin boards of the concerned government agency.

(b) The information uploaded in the website under letter (a) of this Section
may be withdrawn after a period of three (3) years from the time of
uploading: Provided, that an abstract of the information withdrawn shall
remain uploaded in the website, containing a brief description of the
transaction and an enumeration of the information withdrawn, and
indicating the dates of posting and withdrawal;

(©) Should the agency lack the capacity to comply with letter (a) of this
Section, the agency shall initiate a capacity-building program, or
coordinate with another appropriate agency, to facilitate substantive
compliance not later than three (3) years upon approval of this Act

SEC. 15. Promotion of Openness to Government. — (a) Duty to Publish
Information - Government agencies shall regularly publish, print and disseminate at no cost
to the public and in an accessible form, in conjunction with R.A. 9485, or the Anti-Red Tape
Act of 2007, and through their website, timely, true, accurate and updated key information
including, but not limited to:
(1) A description of its mandate, structure, powers, functions, duties and
decision-making processes;
(2) A description of the frontline services it delivers and the procedure and
length of time by which they may be availed of;


(3) The names of its key officials, 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;

(6) Current and important database and statistics that it generates;

(7) 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 of its powers,

(b) Keeping of Records~ Government agencies shall maintain and preserve their
records in a manner that facilitates easy identification, retrieval and
‘communication to the public, They shall establish Management Information
System (MIS) to strengthen their capability to store, manage and retrieve
records, and to facilitate access to public records. The following shall not be
destroyed:

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

(2) Records of government contracts;

(3) The declaration under oath of the assets, liabilities and net worth of public
officers and employees, as required by law;

(4) Records of official investigations on graft and corrupt practices of public
officers; and

(6) Other records where there is a significant public interest in their
preservation or where there is likely to be such interest in the future.

(c)_ Accessibility of Language and Form — Every government agency shall endeavor
to translate key information into major Filipino languages and present them in
popular form and means.

(a) Improving Capability - Every government agency shall ensure the provision of
adequate training to officials to improve awareness of the right to information
and the provisions of this Act, and to keep updated of best practices in relation
to information disclosure, records maintenance and archiving.

(e) Publication Scheme - Every government agency covered by this Act shall adopt
and maintain a model scheme as guide to its publications and policy. A scheme
must describe the types of information it intends to publish, the manner in which
it will be published and whether there will be a charge.

SEC. 16. Criminal Liability and Administrative Liability. - The penalty of
imprisonment of not less than one (1) month but not more than six (6) months shall be
imposed upon:

{a) Any public officer or employee receiving the request under Section 9 of this Act
who shall fail to promptly forward the request to the public officer within the same
office or agency responsible for officially acting on the request when such is the
direct cause of the failure to disclose the information requested within the periods
required by this Act;

(b) Any public officer or employee responsible for officially acting on the request, who
shall:

(1) Fail, to act on the request within the periods required by this Act;

(2) Knowingly deny the existence of existing requested information;

(3) Alter, deface, block, erase, destroy or conceal any records held by
government agency or public authority with the intention of preventing its
disclosure to an applicant who requested information is entitled to receive
it

(4) Claim an exception under Section 8 of this Act, or under the Constitution,
when the claim is manifestly devoid of factual basis; or


(6) Refuse to comply with the decision of his immediate supervisor, the
Ombudsman or the court ordering the release of the information
requested that is not restrained or enjoined by a court;

(c) The head of office of the government agency directly and principally responsible
for the negotiation and perfection of any of the transactions enumerated in
Section 13 (a) of this Act, who shall knowingly refuse, to direct the mandatory
posting or uploading of such transaction despite the agency capacity to
implement such directive. The same penalty shall be imposed upon the public
officer or employee who, despite a directive from the head of office, shall fail, to
post or upload any of the transactions enumerated in Section 14 of this Act;

(d) Any public officer or employee who shall destroy, or cause to destroy, records of
information covered by Section 15 (b) of this Act;

(e) Any public officer who formulates policies, rules and regulations manifestly
contrary to the provisions of this Act, and which policies, rules and regulations are
the direct cause of the denial of a request for information; or

(f) Any public or private individual who knowingly induced or caused the commission
of the foregoing acts under this section.

The foregoing shall be without prejudice to any administrative liability of the offender

under existing laws and regulations.

SEC. 17. 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 right to
information under Article III, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution

SEC. 18. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason, any section or provision o this
Act is held unconstitutional or invalid, no other section or provision shall be affected,

SEC. 19. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and
regulations, issuances or any part thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act,
including Memorandum Circular No. 78 dated 14 August 1964 (Promulgating Rules
Governing Security of Classified Matter in Government Offices), as amended, and Section 3,
Rule IV of the Rules Implementing Republic Act No. 6713 (Code of Conduct of Ethical
Standards for Public Officials and Employees) are deemed repealed

‘SEC. 20. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,