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FOI vows to keep up with ‘best practices’ on info campaigns

MANILA — The Freedom of Information - Project Management Office (FOI-PMO) of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) said it will continue participating in gaining best international practices and provide trainings to government agencies and information campaigns to the public.

This, as the office represented the Philippines in the recently concluded 11th International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC) on March 10-14 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The ICIC is held every year to discuss issues related to the protection and promotion of the right to access public data.

Participants include information commissioners and ombudsmen who serve as Freedom of Information (FOI) officers in their respective countries across the globe.

200 delegates from 50 countries participated in the event.

The Philippine delegation was headed by PCOO Assistant Secretary and FOI Philippines Program Director Kristian R. Ablan, who served as panelist in the 11th ICIC.

Ablan discussed to an international audience the FOI Philippines’ accomplishments, processes, and challenges in its implementation in the absence of an enabling legislation as it would be noted that FOI Bill is currently pending in Congress.

FOI-PMO oversees the implementation of all FOI and e-FOI programs for all government agencies in the executive branch and monitor compliance.

Local governments are covered by a memorandum from the PCOO and the Department of the Interior and Local Government and are encouraged to issue their respective FOI ordinances.

To date, 100 percent of all national government agencies implement the FOI program; 9 local governments have FOI ordinances; the e-FOI has 11,581 requests; and the public may request online (www.foi.gov.ph) from 366 government agencies.

Incentives are provided to government agencies that comply with requirements of the FOI program which is an integral feature of the Philippines’ Good Governance Plan to promote transparency, accountability, and citizen participation.

Delegates from FOI Philippines shared and gained international knowledge regarding the balance of enforcing FOI as well as data privacy and protection.

Trends and challenges from the different countries related to information management, open government, ICT solutions, and FOI request management were likewise shared.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also hosted a training workshop aimed at integrating information commissioners from several countries to adopt Sustainable Development Goal on Access to Information.

At the end of the conference, the 11th ICIC has resolved to inaugurate ICIC as a permanent network which connects information commissioners across the globe to strengthen the right to information as a main tool to social, economic and progressive governance.

FOI-PMO said it will continue participating in gaining international best practices and provide trainings to government agencies and information campaigns to the public. (PR)

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