Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House BIL No, 1608

Introduced by Rep. Precious Hipolito Castelo

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill, to be known as the Freedom of Information Act, seeks the marriage between 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.

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 to a 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 so they can effectively participate
in 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 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 of Practice that sets the guidelines for publications and
policy.

In this light, the immediate approval of this Freedom of Information bill is earnestly sought.



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session _

House Bini No, 1808

Introduced by Rep. Precious Hipolito 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 the House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines
in Congress assembled:

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

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — The State recognizes the right of the people to
information on matters of public concern, 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 in 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:

(2) “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.

(©) *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 and/or 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 intemal and extemal 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, and/or 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)

0)

0)

(k)

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
‘exceptions;

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.

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;

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 fall under the exceptions set forth in
the preceding section, access to information shall not be denied if:

(a)
(b)
(©)

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

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

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)

(b)

(©)

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 information and the preferred means by which the government 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. 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 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
Tequirements of this paragraph shall be met;
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.

() 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 from the office processing the request;

(2) To search for, collect and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of
separate and distinct information which is 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 an 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. —
(@) 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;

(6) 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
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, 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;

(0) 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. -
{2) 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 file a verified complaint with the Office of the
Ombudsman praying that the government 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 thirty (30)
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;

(©) 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;

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

SEC. 14, 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;

(6) 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 entities;

(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 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

(8) 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;

(d) 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

(5) 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 or public individual 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 Il, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution.

SEC. 18. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason, any section of provision of 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) newspapers of general circulation

Approved,

3. There shall be a Code of Practice as will be formulated by the Department of Health to
effectively carry out the intent of this Act prescribing a uniform billing spectrum in cases of
patients availing of assistance from the Philippine Charity and Sweepstakes Office.

SEC. 4. Henceforth, hospital bills computed based on room rate for subject patients
shall be waived as if the patients only availed of the cheapest costs of hospitalization and
treatment by the concerned private hospital or medical center and such fees, charges, or costs
shall not be reflected in the patient's statement of account.

SEC. 5. This Act shall take effect thirty (30) days upon its approval and publication in
the Official Gazette and in at least three (3) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,