After the executive order on the Freedom of Information has been signed by President Rodrigo Duterte, the government has been flooded with requests for information, official records, and other public documents.
But Communications Secretary Martin Andanar admitted there is still a lot more to learn before the administration could declare that it is 100 percent compliant with the executive order on FOI.
“A lot have filed requests and the requests are addressed to different departments of the land. We have our own people under Assistant Secretary Kissinger Reyes who is in-charge of the FOI portal,” he said.
Andanar said so far, only 15 agencies have been complying with the FOI order in terms of assigning personnel to process the requests.
“There’s a lot of learning curve in the FOI Executive Order since not all agencies have been enrolled here and we are currently training the other agencies,” he said.
Personnel of regional offices still need training on how to implement the EO, he added.
Andanar earlier said any person who requests for information must write to the duly authorized personnel assigned by the head of the government agency, and should get the requested information in not longer than 15 days.
Public officials are also reminded under the EO to make available their statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth for public scrutiny.
Questions on the legality of the information requested, meanwhile, will be forwarded to the Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General to ensure it does not violate any laws.