Palace: 'Historic week' to include Duterte signing FOI order

MANILA, Philippines -- President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to sign next week the executive order (EO) implementing freedom of information (FOI) in the executive branch in a move that officials claim would promote transparency and improve his strained relationship with the media.

 

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the signing of the order is one of the things to look forward to during what he described as a “very historic week.”

 

“Next week will be a very, very historic week for everybody,” he told government radio station dzRB on Sunday.

 

“There are other announcements to watch out for next week like the signing by the president of the freedom of information executive order and other announcements by the different departments of the executive branch,” he added.

 

Asked to clarify the schedule of the signing, Andanar said the president would affix his signature on the EO between July 11 and 15.

 

“PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) is reviewing it,” Andanar said in a text message.

 

Last week, Andanar said Malacañang legal teams were working on an EO that would require agencies in the executive branch to release information about their projects and transactions.

 

He said the EO on the FOI is in line with the administration’s efforts to promote transparency in government.

 

Last Thursday, Duterte announced that he has received the draft EO, which has a working title “Operationalizing in the Executive branch the people's constitutional right to information and the state policies of full public disclosure and transparency in the public service and providing guidelines thereof of the freedom of information.”   

 

“Due to constant and insistent demand especially coming from media of the Philippines regarding the state of the right of information, I have decided to hurry up the process. I have the copy of the draft,” Duterte said in an interview aired over state-run television station PTV-4.

 

 

Duterte, however, noted that the EO would only cover the executive branch and not the legislature and judiciary.

 

“I can only mind the executive department, my branch of government. I cannot mind the judiciary and Congress because of separation of powers.

 

The president said it would be up to Congress to decide whether to pass an FOI law that would cover all government entities.

 

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said last week that the proposed FOI law – which has been bypassed since the 12th Congress – remains a priority of the Duterte administration.

 

Andanar previously said that the EO, which is expected to be implemented in the coming week, is Duterte’s “first step” towards restoring what used to be a friendly relationship with journalists.

 

Duterte, who used to hold lengthy late night press briefings, has decided to limit interviews to state-run media after getting criticism for saying that some slain journalists were involved in extortion. The statement was later clarified by his spokespersons.

 

Some press watchdogs interpreted Duterte’s statement as an endorsement of media killings, with one of them – Paris-based Reporters Without Borders – going as far as calling for a boycott of his press conferences until he apologizes.

 

The opposite happened, however, as Duterte was the one who decided to boycott the media until the end of his term “to avoid wrong statements.”