Cebu Citizens-Press Council

RESOLUTION REQUESTING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO HELP FULFILL THE INTENT OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (FOI) AS INITIALLY PROVIDED BY EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 02, SERIES 2016, SIGNED BY PRESIDENT DUTERTE JULY 23, 2016, AND AS PROPOSED IN AN FOI LAW TO BE ENACTED BY CONGRESS.
Sept. 22, 2016

CCPC RESOLUTION #1, Series of 2016

WHEREAS, President Duterte issued Executive Order #2, s. 2016 last July 26, 2016, providing, among others, for every Filipino to have “access to information, official records, public records and to documents and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions or decisions…”;

WHEREAS, E.O. #2 primarily covers all government offices under the Executive Branch, but encourages local government units (LGUs) “to observe and be guided” by the order;

WHEREAS, some LGUs in Cebu, heeding or anticipating the order, adopted or are adopting their own sets of regulations on access to information, in the form of executive order or legislative fiat;

NOW THEREFORE, on motion of Michelle P. So, the Cebu Citizens-Press Council, in session assembled, hereby resolves that it request the local governments in the province and cities of Cebu to help promote the intent of the president’s executive order towards an open and transparent governance:

1. By providing for speedy and simplified system in releasing information, encouraging the practice of posting announcements and documents in their respective websites and, in urgent cases, e-mailing them to media outlets;

2. By laying down specific criteria or guidelines for the public officer authorized to decide on release of information, to avoid personal, arbitrary or unreasonable ground for refusing access;

(Exemptions to freedom of information will be appended to the president’s E.O.#2 and Congress will have its list of exemptions. The version of each local government may not be more stringent than what the E.O. and the law will provide.)

3. By considering always the urgency of deadlines and the perishable nature of news as commodity when the request for information is made by media, the public’s surrogate;

4. By keeping an open line of consultation with the public, especially the media, on problems that may arise in implementing the LGU’s rules.

BE IT RESOLVED FURTHER that copies of this resolution be provided to local governments, especially those engaged in the process of adopting their own version of Freedom of Information rules.