Republic of the Philippines

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 4252

Introduced by: HONORABLE RODOLFO W. ANTONINO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to put in place the enabling law essential to implement the constitutional
guarantee enshrined in the Bill of Rights (Article 3, Section 7) which provides for the right of the
citizens on matters of public concern, access to official records, and to documents, and papers
pertaining to official acts, transactions or decisions, as well as government research data used
as basis for policy development subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.

Further, the bill proposes an unequivocal mandate for promoting a clear transparency and
accountability in the government; a mandate to promote a culture of openness within the
government and to enhance not only the physical accessibility of the information, but its
understandability by the general public as well.

Equally important in view of this bill is the obligation of the person or entity who sought the
information which was publicly disseminated to obtain the side of the individual or government
agency concerned to shed light on the issue. For it is also of public interest and concern that
they be made aware of what is really behind the public information divulged.

The same measure was already approved on its third and final reading by both this House and
the Senate, and further approved by the Bicameral Conference Committee constituted by both
chambers to cohere their version in the last Fourteenth Congress.

Nevertheless, the same failed to be ratified due to lack of quorum on the last session day of the
Fourteenth Congress.

Hence, refiling of this bill and consequent approval thereof be given ut

St priority; deserves.

IDOLFG W. ANTONINO


CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES.
FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
House Bill No.._ 4252

INTRODUCED BY: HONORABLE RODOLFO W. ANTONINO

AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION
ON MATTERS OF PUBLIC CONCERN GUARANTEED UNDER
SECTION TWENTY-EIGHT, ARTICLE ll AND SECTION SEVEN,
ARTICLE Ill OF THE 1987 CONSTITUTION 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
and Transparency Act of 2011

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — The State recognizes the right of the
people to information on matters of public concer, and adopts and implements
policy of full public disclosure of al its transactions involving public interest,
subject to limitations provided by this Act. This right is indispensable to the
‘exercise of the right 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 goverment agencies as
defined in Section 4 of this Act.

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


(@)

(o)

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@

“Information” shall mean any knowledge, record, document,
Paper, report, 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 processing records, 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 pursuant to law, executive order, rules
and regulations, ordinance or in connection with the
performance or transaction of official business by any
government agency.

“Government agency’ shail 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 goverment and all its agencies, departments,
bureaus, offices and instrumentalities, constitutional
commissions and constitutionally mandated bodies, local
governments and all their agencies, regulatory agencies,
chartered institutions, goveriment-owned or -controlled
corporations, government financial institutions, state
universities and colleges, the Armed 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 the 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.

“Public records” shall include information required by law to
be entered, kept and made publicly available by a government
agency such as, but not limited to, the:

(1) Office of the Civil Registry;
(2) National Statistics Office;
(3) Register of Deeds;


(4) Land Transportation Office;

(5) Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board;

6 ) Securities and Exchange Commission;

(7) Intellectual Property Office; or

(8) Business Permits and Licenses Office and Assessor's Office of the
various local goverment units.

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 should not be disclosed.

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, 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. Qualifications. — Even if the information falls under the
‘exceptions set forth in the succeeding section, access to information shall not
be denied if:

(2) The information may be reasonably severed from the body of

the information which would be subject to the exceptions; or

(b) The public interest in the disclosure outweighs the harm to

the interest sought to be protected by the exceptions.

SEC. 8. Exceptions. - Subject to the qualifications set forth in
Section 7: Provided, That the information is specifically designated and
described, and the facts and reasons for preserving the confidentiality are
precisely and specifically recited, and: Provided, further, That such
information shall be available to either House of Congress at all times, access
to information may be denied when:
(@) The revelation of the information will create a clear and
present danger of war, invasion or any external threat to the
Secretary of the Department of National Defense: Provided,
That the Supreme Court may, upon complaint by any citizen,


(b)

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@)

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)

inquire into the sufficiency of the factual basis for such
determination;

The information 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, except that such information must always be
accessible to either House of Congress;

The information 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. Information relating to the details of the
administration, budget and expenditure, and management of
the defense and law enforcement agencies shall always be
accessible to the public;

The information pertains to the personal information of a
third party natural person, unless it forms part of a public
record, or the third party is or was an official of a
government agency and the information relates to his or her
Public function;

The information pertains to trade, industrial, financial or
commercial secrets of a third party natural or juridical
person, obtained in confidence by a goverment agency
whenever the revelation thereof would seriously prejudice
the interests of the third party in trade, industrial, financial or
commercial competition, unless the third party has consented
to the disclosure of the information;

The information 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;

(e) The information is exempted by statutes of Congress, in
addition to those provided in this section;

(h) The information is obtained by any committee of either
House of Congress in executive session; and

() Drafts of decisions of any executive, administrative, judicial
or quasi-judicial body in the exercise of their adjudicatory
functions are being requested.

SEC. 9. Procedure of Access. ~ (a) Any person who wishes to obtain
information shall submit a request to the government agency concemed, as
much as practicable in writing or through electronic means, reasonably
describing the information required, the reason for the request of the
information and the means by which the government agency shall
‘communicate such information to the requesting party.

(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.

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

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

(2) An opportunity to inspect the information, using equipment

normally available to the government agency when necessary;

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

(4) A written transcript of the information contained in a sound or
visual form;

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

(6) A transcript of the information from shorthand or codified form.

(d) A government agency may communicate information 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 ten
(10) calendar days from the receipt thereof.

(f) The time limits prescribed in this section may be extended during
unusual circumstances where, in the production of the requested information,
there is a need:

(1) To search for and collect the requested information from

field facilities or other establishments that are separate from
the office processing the request;

@) To search for, collect and appropriately examine a
voluminous amount of separate and distinct information
which are demanded in a single request;

(3) For 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 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.

‘SEC 10. Opportunity to Reply. — Any person natural or juridical who came to
be involved directly or indirectly in the issue publicly obtained must be given the
opportunity to account for, explain, manifest or throw light upon the issue concemed
in the following manner:

(a) That, it shall be in the same space of the printed material,
newspapers or magazines, newsletters or publications circulated
commercially or for free;

) That, it shall be aired over the same program on radio, television,

website, or any electronic device as the case may be;

(© That mandatory explanation on the part of the person natural or
Juridical who is involved or happened to be involved in the public
information obtained shall be published or broadcasted not later

than three (3) days;


(a) That the explanation shall be thorough, clear and complete as to shed
light on the issue of public concern.

‘SEC. 11. Fees. - Government agencies may charge a reasonable
fee to reimburse the cost of searching, reproduction, copying or transcription
and the communication of the information requested.
= _ The publication or broadcast of the explanation of the
Person concemed or involved shall be free of charge,
payment or fees.

SEC. 12. Notice of Denial. ~ if the government agency decides to deny
the request, in whole or in part, it shall, within ten (10) 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 shalll 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
also state clearly the legitimate aim or interest sought to be protected in the
confidentiality, and the facts and circumstances invoked showing the
substantial harm to, or frustration of, the legitimate aim or interest that will
result in the disclosure of the information. 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. 13. Remedies in Cases of Denial. - (a) In the executive and

legislative branches and the constitutional bodies —

(1) Every denial of any request for access to information may be
appealed to the person or office next higher in authority,
following the procedure provided in the guidelines as
required by Section 17 of this Act: Provided, That the appeal
must be filed within fifteen (15) calendar days from the
notice of denial and must be decided within fifteen (15)
calendar days from filing. Failure of the govemment 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


son denied access to information may, within fifteen (15)
calendar days from the original denial or denial of the
appeal, file 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 by 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 information requested will become moot.

(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 covering the
‘same act.

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

(©) The Office of the Ombudsman shall promulgate its rules of
procedure to effect the purposes of this Act.

(® 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,

(g) __ Incase the requester has limited or no financial capacity, the
Public Attorney's Office shall be mandated to provide legal
assistance to the requester in availing of the remedies
provided under this Act.

SEC. 14. Mandatory Disclosure of Transactions Involving Public
Interest. - Subject to Sections 7 and 8 of this Act, all government agencies
shall post on their bulletin boards and upload on their websites all the steps,
negotiations and key government positions pertaining to definite propositions
of the government, as well as the contents of the contract, agreement or treaty
in the following transactions involving public interest


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

(&) 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;

(©) Procurement contracts entered into by a government agency;

(@) 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 goverment agency with
official bilateral or multilateral agencies, as well as with
private aid agencies or institutions;

() Loans from domestic and foreign financial institutions;

(g) Guarantees given by any government agency to government-
‘owned or -controlled corporations and to private
corporations, persons or entities;

(h) Public funding extended to any private entity;

(i) Bilateral or multilateral agreements and treaties in defense,

trade, economic partnership, investments, cooperation and
‘similar binding commitments; or

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

SEC. 15. Promotion of Openness in Government. — (a) Duty to Publish
Information - Goverment agencies shall regularly publish and disseminate, at
no cost to the public and in an accessible form, by print and through their
website, timely, true, accurate and updated key information including, but not
limited to:

(1) A description of its structure, powers, functions, duties and

decision-making processes;


(2) A description of the fronttine services it delivers and the procedure
and length of time by which they may be availed of;

(3) Work programs, development plans, investment plans, projects,
performance targets and accomplishments, and budgets, revenue
allotments and expenditures;

(4) Important rules and regulations, orders or decisions;

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

(6) Bidding processes and requirements;

(7) Mechanisms or procedures by which the public may participate in
or otherwise influence the formulation of policy or the exercise of
its powers; and

(8) A guide on accessing information containing adequate information *
about its record-keeping system, the types of information it holds
and/or publishes, the procedure for obtaining access by the public
to such information, the person or office responsible for receiving
the request and routing it to the person or office with the duty to act

on the request, the standard forms and procedure for request,
and
the schedule of access fees.

(b) Keeping of Records ~ Goverment 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 Systems (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 networth of
public officers and employees, as required by law;

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

(5) Other records where there is a significant public interest in their

preservation or where there is likely to be such interest in the
future.

(©) 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 for its 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.

SEC. 16. Criminal Liability. — The penalty of imprisonment of not less
than six (6) months but not more than one (1) year, with the accessory penalty
of suspension from office for the same duration, shall be imposed upon:

(@) Any public officer or employee receiving the request under

Section 9 of this Act who shall knowingly refuse or, because
of gross negligence, fail to promptly forward the request to
the public officer responsible for officially acting on the
request when such is the direct cause of the failure to
disclose the information within the periods required by this
Act,

(6) Any public officer or employee responsible for officially

acting on the request, who shall:

(1) Knowingly refuse or, because of gross negligence, fail to act on the
request within the periods required by this Act;

(2) Knowingly deny the existence of existing information;

(8) Deliberately destroy information being requested for the purpose of
frustrating the requester’s access thereto;

(4) Claim an exception under Section 8 of this Act, 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 information that is not
restrained or enjoined by a court;

(©) The head of office of the goverment agency directly and

principally responsible for the negotiation and perfection of
any of the transactions enumerated in Section 13 of this Act,
who shall knowingly refuse or, because of negligence, fails
to direct the mandatory posting or uploading of such
transaction. The same penalty shall be imposed upon the
Public officer or employee who, despite a directive from the
head of office, shall knowingly refuse or, because of


12

negligence, fails to post or upload any of the transactions
‘enumerated in Section 14 of this Act;

(@) Any public officer or employee who shall destroy, or cause
to destroy, records of information covered by Section 14(b)
of this Act;

&® Any public officer who intentionally formulates policies,
tules 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

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

SEC. 17. Strict Civil Liability. ~ In case a request for information is.
denied and subsequently reversed by final and executory judgment of the
‘Ombudsman or the courts, the government agency shall be liable to pay the
requester damages in the amount of One thousand pesos (P1,000.00) per day
from the date of notice of denial until the date of compliance with the request,
which amount shall be automatically appropriated. The public officer or
employee and the private individual responsible for the denial shall be
solidarily liable with the government agency, unless he can prove that such
denial was made without fault or negligence, or was not done arbitrarily or in
manifest bad faith. The liability under this section shall be without prejudice to
actual, moral and exemplary damages that may be adjudicated under the law.

The publisher and editor-in-chief of the publication or the
‘Owner and station manager of the broadcast media who fails or
vilifully refuses to publish or broadcast the manifestation of the
of the person who happened to be involved in the issue
concemed as mandated in this Act shall be fined an amount not
‘exceeding P10,000 for the first offense; P50,000 for the second
offense; P100,000 for the third offense and closure or
suspension as the case may be, of the franchise of the
publication or broadcast media outlet or station for 30 days.


‘SEC. 18. Guidelines. — (a) For the full implementation of this Act
within the executive branch of the government, the Office of the Press
Secretary, particularly the Philippine Information Agency, shall, through a
consultative process, promulgate within six (6) months from the passage of this
Act, the general guidelines to which the government agencies controlled,
supervised or situated under the Office of the President, and shall adhere in the
establishment of their specific guidelines for access to information, which shall
include:

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

(2) The types of information it holds and/or publishes;

(3) The person or office responsible for receiving the request
and for routing it to the person or office with the duty to act
on the request, and the standard forms and procedures for the
request;

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

(5) The schedule of fees which shall be limited to the reasonable
and standard charges for document search and reproduction,
and the recovery of the direct costs thereof.

Each of the abovementioned govemment agency, office and
instrumentality shall submit to the Philippine Information Agency a copy of its
guidelines for review to ensure the standardization of the procedure and the
Uniformity of fees, without prejudice to the right of the different agencies,
offices and instrumentalities to adopt appropriate procedures for their unique
functions and responsibilities,

(b) The legislative and judicial branches and the constitutional bodies
shall promulgate their own guidelines that would govern offices under their
respective jurisdictions. The Secretary of the Senate, the House of
Representatives’ Secretary General, the head of the Supreme Court Public
Information Office and the public information officers of the constitutional
bodies shall be responsible in furnishing copies of their respective guidelines
to the Philippine Information Agency.


(c) The Office of the Ombudsman shall likewise promulgate its special
rules of procedure for the immediate disposition of complaints filed pursuant
to Section 13 of this Act.

Inno 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. 19. 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 Ill, Section 7 of the
1987 Constitution

SEC. 20. The publication or broadcast of the manifestation or explanation
mentioned in this Act does not preclude recourse to other rights or remedies
available to the party or parties concerned

SEC. 21. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason, any section or
provision of this Act is held unconstitutional or invalid, no other section or
provision shalll be affected,

SEC. 22. 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
(Promuigating 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 and Ethical Standards for Public
Officials and Employees), are deemed repealed

SEC. 23. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
its publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation

Approved.