Freedom of Information (FOI) Program Criteria and Validation Process for the Eligibility to Fiscal Year 2022 Performance-Based Bonus (PBB)

May 2, 2022

PCOO FOI MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 22-01

 

WHEREAS, Executive Order (EO) No. 2, series of 2016, was issued by President Rodrigo R. Duterte on 23 July 2016 to operationalize the People's Constitutional Right to Information;

WHEREAS, Sections 8 and 16 of EO No. 2 (s. 2016) instructed all government offices under the Executive Branch to prepare their respective People's Freedom of Information (FOI) Manual and implementing details within 120 days from its effectivity;

WHEREAS, Memorandum Order (MO) No. 10 (s. 2016) designated the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) as the lead agency in the implementation of EO No. 2 (s. 2016) and all other FOI programs and initiatives, including the electronic FOI (eFOI), in the Executive Branch;

WHEREAS, Department Order No. 18 (s. 2017) created the FOI-Project Management Office (FOI-PMO) to exercise the mandate of the PCOO under MO No. 10 (s. 2016), pursuant to EO No. 2 (s. 2016);

WHEREAS, FOI Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 01 (s. 2018) instructed all government offices under the Executive Branch to submit their FOI Report (Agency Information Inventory, FOI Quarterly Registry, and FOI Quarterly Summary);

WHEREAS, FOI MC No. 3 (s. 2017) required all government offices under the Executive Branch to enroll in, and be onboard to, the eFOI program (www.foi.gov.ph) to ensure public convenience in requesting for information from the different agencies under the Executive Branch;

WHEREAS, FOI MC No. 1 (s. 2020) recommended that all government offices produce a One-Page FOI Manual, based on the template provided for by the FOI-PMO, and make the same available to the public for each government office;

WHEREAS, the FOI-PMO rolled-out the FOI Assessment Tool, entitled the "Assessing Information Disclosure Practices for FOI (AID-FOI) Compliance Tool," in 2019 to determine the capacity and performance of agencies to comply with the FOI Program and their ability to respond to information requests;

WHEREAS, the FOI-PMO aims to generate verifiable data to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the implementing agencies' compliance to the FOI Program through an FOI Request Feedback Report to be included in the FOI Report;

WHEREAS, Administrative Order (AO) No. 25 (s. 2011) created the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Harmonization of National Government Performance Monitoring, Information, and Reporting System (Task Force AO 25), which is mandated to harmonize, unify, streamline and simplify all existing monitoring and reporting requirements and processes through the development of a common set performance scorecard, and the design of a government executive information system;

WHEREAS, Section 5 of EO No. 201 (s. 2016) provides that Task Force AO 25 shall prescribe the conditions for eligibility, and the procedures for the grant, of the enhanced Performance-Based Bonus (PBB);

WHEREAS, Task Force AO 25 issued MC No. 2022-1, which provides for the guidelines for the grant of the PBB for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 under EO No. 80 (s. 2012), and EO No. 201 (s. 2016);

WHEREAS, Section 5 (c) of MC No. 2022-1, under Agency Accountabilities, provides that agencies covered by EO No. 2 (s. 2016) must comply with the set of FOI Program requirements. Compliance with these requirements, will be used as one of the bases in determining the eligibility of responsible units and individuals.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing, strict adherence to the following is hereby ordered:

SECTION 1. Scope. — This FOI MC shall cover all Government Offices under the Executive Branch, including but not limited to the national government and all its offices, departments, bureaus, offices, and instrumentalities, including government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), local water districts (LWDs), and state universities and colleges (SUCs), pursuant to Section 2 of EO No. 2 (s. 2016).

SECTION 2. Validation Process. — Covered agencies shall accomplish the validation form through the link "<bit.ly/2022FOIPBB>," starting 1 January 2023 and to be submitted on or before the deadline prescribed in Section 4 of this Circular.

The agency shall provide the following details in the validation form:

a) Name of Agency;

b) Head of Agency and Designation;

c) Office Address;

d) FOI Receiving Officer/Focal Person and Designation;

e) Contact Details of FOI Receiving Officer/Focal Person;

f) Direct hyperlink to the following uploaded requirements in the Transparency Seal page:

i. Updated People's FOI Manual (including new designated list of FOI Receiving Officer/s with corresponding contact details) duly signed by the Head of the Agency;

ii. Updated One-Page FOI Manual (including the name of FOI Receiving Officer/s with corresponding contact details and the step-by-step procedure of FOI Request in standard paper-based and electronic format);

iii. Updated FOI Report (Agency Information Inventory, 2022 FOI Registry, and 2022 FOI Summary Report); and,

iv. Link to the agency's dashboard in the electronic FOI (eFOI) portal (www.foi.gov.ph).

g) Upload the updated accomplished Assessing Information Disclosure Practices for FOI Compliance (AID-FOI) Tool.

SECTION 3. Format of Requirements. — Submissions that do not comply with the file format and templates below shall not be considered for validation. However, modifications to said file to reflect agency identity and information shall be allowed.

Agencies with no revision in their existing People's FOI Manual shall retain their existing uploaded manual in their respective Transparency Seal. Further, Agencies shall submit the accomplished FOI Report, strictly in single Excel sheet (.xls) and based on the template provided in the link "<www.bit.ly/2022FOIReports>," to the FOI-PMO and shall incorporate the same in their respective Transparency Seals with the file name "2022 FOI Reports."

All templates (One-page FOI Manual, FOI Reports, Onboarding Form, AID-FOI Tool, and FOI Request Feedback Form) may be downloaded from the link "<http://bit.ly/2022FOIPBBTEMPLATES>."

SECTION 3.n  Issuance of Compliance Certificates. — A Certificate of Compliance shall be issued to agencies that have complied with Section 2 of this Circular.

SECTION 4. Deadline of Submission. — The FOI-PMO shall commence the validation process on the following dates:

 

REQUIREMENTS	DEADLINE
Updated People's FOI Manual	30 January 2023 (Monday)
Updated One-Page FOI Manual
Updated FOI Report (Agency Information Inventory, 2022 FOI Registry, and 2022 FOI Summary Report)
Onboarding to the eFOI portal (www.foi.gov.ph)
Updated Accomplished AID-FOI Tool
FOI Feedback Report

 

SECTION 5. Non-compliance. — The FOI-PMO shall issue in March 2023 a list of agencies who failed to comply with the requirements and deadlines prescribed by this Circular.

These agencies may file a request for reconsideration, through a letter from its head of agency, addressed to the FOI-PMO.

The said request shall contain justifiable reasons, which must be factors beyond the agency's control, along with documents pertinent to the matter.

SECTION 6. Contact Information. — Concerned agencies may reach the FOI-PMO through the following contact information:

a. Telephone number: (02) 8711-99-35; and

b. email address: <[email protected]>.

SECTION 7. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason, any part or provision of this Memorandum Circular is declared invalid or unconstitutional, any part or provision not affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 8. Repealing Clause. — All orders, rules and regulations, memoranda, circulars, and issuances, or any part thereof, inconsistent with the provisions of this Circular are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 9. Effectivity Clause. — This Memorandum Circular shall take effect immediately.

Manila, Philippines, 2nd day of May year 2022.

(SGD.) JOSE RUPERTO MARTIN M. ANDANARSecretary and FOI Champion

ANNEX A

Sample of Posting in the Transparency Seal

Reminder: Ensure that only three (3) items are published under the FOI Requirement in the agency website's Transparency Seals with the following file name format:

a) People's FOI Manual

b) One-page FOI Manual

c) FOI Report

ANNEX B

Sample One-Page FOI Manual

Reminders: Please see FOI Memorandum Circular No. 1 (s. 2020) for the full guidelines in the development of an One-page FOI Manual through foi.gov.ph/resources/policies.

ANNEX C

Guidelines for the FOI Report Format

Reminders:

1) Agencies shall submit their respective accomplished FOI Report strictly in a single Google spreadsheet (.xlxs), based on the template provided in the link "<www.bit.ly/2022FOIReports>." Further, those using an older format of Excel sheets are requested to convert the same to Google spreadsheet;

2) Change the privacy settings of the Google Spreadsheet to "Anyone on the internet with this link can view"; and,

3) For FOI Registry and Summary Reports, agencies must ensure that all dates starting 2017-Q1 to 2022-Q4 are present. Also, please be advised that starting FY 2022, a "REFERRED" status shall be added in the status group under the FOI Registry and FOI Summary Sheets of the FOI Reports.

ANNEX D

Onboarding to the eFOI Portal (www.foi.gov.ph)

Figure 1. Homepage of the Agency Web

Figure 2. Agency's eFOI Dashboard Page

Reminder: The FOI logo posted in the agency website (Figure No. 1) shall be linked to the URL of the eFOI dashboard of the agency (Figure No. 2).

ANNEX E

Guidelines for the FOI Requests Feedback Survey

I. Guide in conducting the FOI Requests Feedback Survey

Agencies are encouraged to observe the following procedures in conducting the feedback survey:

a) Survey Questionnaire. The FOI Requests Feedback Survey must capture the citizen's/client's experience, expectations, and satisfaction with the agencies' compliance to the FOI Program implementation through the following vital questions:

1) Are you satisfied with the handling of your FOI request?

2) Did you receive your information within 15 to 35 working days?

A. For unsuccessful request, are you satisfied with the reason provided?

B. For successful request, was the response you received easy to understand?

3) Did you feel that we communicated with you effectively, from start to finish?

4) Is there anything we could do to improve our service in the future?

Note: Agencies may opt to include additional questions to determine and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its services in implementing the FOI Program.

b) Rating Scale. A 5-point Likert scale is recommended to be used, with the following rating scale:

 

Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neither agree or disagree	Agree	Strongly agree
1	2	3	4	5

 

II. Data Analysis and Reporting of Feedback Score

The results of the survey shall be analyzed by each respective agency to improve their services. Each agency shall report its FOI Requests Feedback Score through the FOI Registry and Summary Sheet starting 2nd Quarter of 2022.

n Note from the Publisher: Copied verbatim from the official document. Irregular numerical sequence.