SEVENTEEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session
S E N A T E
s.B. 
159
BILLS jL^NDEX
Introduced by Senator Poe
AN ACT
IMPLEMENTING 
THE 
PEOPLE’S 
RIGHT 
TO 
INFORMATION 
AND 
THE 
CONSTITUTIONAL POLICIES OF FULL PUBLIC DISCLOSURE AND HONESTY IN 
THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Explanatory Note
Accountability is the core of democratic governance. In their landmark article entitled "What 
Democracy is...and is Not" political scientists Philippe C. Schmitter and Terry Lynn Karl define 
democracy as "...a system of governance in which rulers are held accountable for their actions in 
the public realm."1 The framers of the 1987 Constitution clearly recognized this principle and 
enshrined it in Article XI of our Fundamental Law, of which Section 1 reads: “Public office is a 
public trust Public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people...''
Transparency is essential to accountability. Without transparency, citizens cannot access the 
information needed to collectively discern the fitness of public officials, elected otherwise, to hold 
public office. “Open dialogue can be effective only to the extent that the citizenry is informed and 
thus able to formulate its will intelligently. Only when the participants in the discussion are aware of 
the issues and have access to information relating thereto can such bear fruit."2
The right to information institutionalizes transparency and empowers citizens to access and 
demand information of public concern. The right to information is clearly recognized in the Bill of 
Rights. Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution which states that “The right of the people to 
information on matters of public concern shall be recognized. Access to official records, and to 
documents and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government 
research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such 
limitations as may be provided by law.”
The right of information complemented by Article II, Sec. 28 which states: “Subject to 
reasonable conditions prescribed by law, the State adopts and implements a policy of full public 
disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest.”
However, while the Supreme Court has consistently held that the right to information under 
the Bill of Rights is self-executory, it lacks the substantive and procedural details necessary for its 
effective and predictable implementation.3 The lack of implementing legislation bars the effective 
utilization of the right to information, thus stifling democratic politics and public accountability. 
This is disconcerting considering that 100 countries have enacted Right to Information (RTI) or 
Freedom of Information (FOI) laws as of 2014.4 The first FOI law was filed by Sweden in 1766.5 In
1 S c h m itte r, P.C. and Karl, T .L  "W h a t D e m o cra cy ls...A nd Is H o t" . J o u rn a l o f  D e m o cra cy M o l 2, N o.3: S u m m e r 1991.
2 V a lm o n te  i/s. B e lm o n te , G.R. N o. 7 4 9 3 0 ,1 3  F e b ru a ry 1989.
3 P eople's FOI Bill, 16th C ongress
4 M c In to s h , T. "P arag u ay is 1 0 0 th  n a tio n  to  pass FOI law , b u t stru g g le  fo r o pe n n e ss goes o n " The G u a rd ia n  (19
S e p te m b e r 2014). R e trie ve d  fro m  h ttp ://w w w .th e g u a rd ia n .c o m /p u b lic -le a d e rs -n e tw o rk /2 0 1 4 /s e D /1 9 /D a ra g u a v - 
fre e d o m -in fo rm a tio n -la w -tra n s p a re n c v