ALTERNATIVE TO FOI

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

(Malacanang has issued an executive order on freedom of information issue. But it appears to be of very little use. Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, with his mouth zipped, could work to make the executive order useful. But with his abbreviated intelligence, it is doubtful if he could work on it. I have suggested the following as an alternative.)

Because of the failure of Congress to enact the proposed Freedom of Information Law (FoI Law), President Rodrigo Duterte could start his administration with a bang by putting in place the proposed Open Government Initiative (OGI), which could serve as an alternative to the FoI Law.

The proposed OGI local version could be similar to what US President Barack Obama did on his first day of office in 2009 mainly to promote accountability, openness, and transparency in his government.

Duterte could issue an executive order to institute his OGI speech primarily to facilitate the release of official information, which various parties would ask from the government.

In fact, he indicated his willingness to come out with an executive order (EO) as an alternative to the failed congressional initiative. 

It is a big question though if he is still serious to the draft EO envisioned, as his critics have noted his tendency to change his mind in a whiff.

The proposed EO could mobilize the DBM as its main implementing agency and the name OGI chief implementing officer with the rank of a Cabinet undersecretary to handle all requests for releasable information.

The proposed executive order should mandate the OGI head to conduct forums and other discussions, use every available means to generate suggestions to benefit the government, complete identification of un-releasable and releasable government information, and improve their quality and quantity.

The proposed OGI Philippine version is premised on the political philosophy of "open source governance," which seeks to open in this digital age the sources and movement of information to allow the greater participation of the general citizenry in the crafting of policies and their implementation.

It is also premised on the concept of "e-democracy" or democracy electronics, which rejects any "black box" on the issue of information.

Obama's OGI differs from the incoming president's in the sense that Washington has its Freedom of Information Law from which Obama has based his OGI. Hence, Obama's OGI is based on a strict implementation of the expanded US FoI Law.