CEBU CITY, Cebu, May 4 (PIA) -- The Cebu City’s Freedom of Information (FOI) ordinance has not been fully implemented due to the absence of implementing rules and regulations (IRR).
This was raised during a forum organized by the Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) in partnership with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Signed on July 28, 2022, City Ordinance No. 2657, also called FOI Ordinance of 2019, ensures every citizen access to information and records whether public records or documents, about official acts, transactions, and data in custody of the Cebu City government.
The ordinance was authored by then City Councilor and now Representative Edu Rama and was signed by Mayor Mike Rama.
The ordinance required each department and office of the city to have an FOI receiving officer that shall receive, screen and, upon approval of the department head, release the necessary documents.
But during the said forum, Cebu City Councilor Rey Gealon disclosed that no designated FOI receiving officers have been appointed in any of the city hall’s offices.
Gealon said 27 departments are still in need of receiving officers.
He added that there is a need to amend the ordinance so that it would include the list of exceptions that the City Legal Office (CLO) submitted to the council on Jan. 31.
The CLO has identified eight exemptions to the ordinance which include information covered by executive privilege; privileged information relating to national security, defense or international relations; information concerning law enforcement and protection of public and personal safety; and information deemed confidential for the protection of privacy of certain individuals such as minors, victims of crimes or the accused.
Lawyer and veteran journalist Pachico Seares, executive director of CCPC, said that the FOI is essential since it affects not only the media but also other citizens.
FOI will become a tool not just for journalists to get necessary information for accurate reporting without going through too many processes, Seares added.
Seares also finds the forum timely since it was held on World Press Freedom Day, May 3. (MYP/PIA7 Cebu)
