Guidelines on the Referral of Requested Information, Official Record/s and Public Record/s to the Appropriate Government Agency Otherwise Known as the "No Wrong Door Policy for FOI"

August 27, 2021

PCOO FOI MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 21-05

 

WHEREAS, Executive Order (EO) No. 02, s. 2016 was issued by President Rodrigo Roa R. Duterte to operationalize the Constitutional Right of Access to Information, and Policy of Full Public Disclosure in the Executive Department;

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. 02, s. 2016;

WHEREAS, Department Order No. 18, s. 2017, issued by the PCOO, created the Freedom of Information-Project Management Office (FOI-PMO) to exercise the mandate of MO No. 10, s. 2016;

WHEREAS, in order to ensure the policy of the President to have an open, transparent and accountable government, it is the mandate of the PCOO to develop programs and mechanisms to enhance the capacity of government agencies to comply with the FOI program;

WHEREAS, there is a need to break the prevailing "silo system" and lack of interconnection among government agencies, with the end goal of a government acting as a singular unit serving its primary client, its citizens;

NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of PCOO's mandate to develop programs and mechanism to ensure compliance with the FOI program, particularly on addressing the issue regarding the referral of any requested information, official record/s, or public record/s to the appropriate government agency, these rules are hereby prescribed and promulgated for the information, guidance and compliance of all concerned:

SECTION 1. Purpose. — This rule seeks to set guidelines for the referral of any requested information, official record/s, or public record/s to the appropriate government agency by another agency which does not have in its possession or custody the requested information or records, or is not authorized to release the information to the public.

SECTION 2. Coverage. — This Order shall cover all government agencies under the Executive branch implementing the FOI Program, pursuant to EO No. 2, s. 2016 and all other related issuances, and applies to both paper-based and electronic form of requesting information.

SECTION 3. Request for Information. — Any person who requests for access to information shall comply with Section 9 of EO No. 02, s. 2016 and all other pertinent laws, existing rules and regulations, issuances, and orders. For purposes of this rule, information and records shall refer to information, official record/s, or public record/s as defined under EO No. 02, s. 2016.

SECTION 4. Acceptance of Request. — As a general rule, all fully compliant requests for information shall be accepted by the FOI Receiving Officer (FRO) and FOI Decision Maker (FDM). No request for information shall be denied or refused acceptance by a government office unless the reason for the request is contrary to the Constitution, pertinent laws, existing rules and regulations, or it is one of the exceptions provided under the Inventory of Exceptions.

SECTION 5. Process of Referral. — When the requested information is not in the possession of a government agency (government agency no. 1 or GA1), but is available in another government agency (government agency no. 2 or GA2) under the Executive Branch, the request shall be immediately referred by GA1 to GA2 through the most expeditious manner but not exceeding three (3) working days from the receipt of the request. This shall be considered as the "First Referral" and a fresh period will apply.

Referral to the appropriate government agency shall mean that another government office is the proper repository or custodian of the requested information or records, or have control over the said information or records.

If GA1 fails to refer the request within three (3) working days upon its receipt, the FRO shall act on it within the remaining period to respond pursuant to EO No. 02, s. 2016. No fresh period shall apply.

If GA1, in good faith, erroneously referred the request to GA2, the latter shall immediately notify the former as well as the requesting party, that the information requested is not available in their agency.

GA2, to whom the request was referred under the First Referral may subsequently refer the request to another government agency (government agency no. 3 or GA3) under the procedure set forth in the first paragraph of this Section. This shall be considered as the "Second Referral" and another fresh period shall apply.

Referrals under this Order shall only be limited to two (2) subsequent transfers of request. A written or email acknowledgement of the referral shall be made by the FRO of the government agency where it was referred.

The requesting party shall be notified of the referral and must be provided with the reason or rationale thereof, and contact details of the government office where the request was referred.

SECTION 6. FOI Internal Messenger. — The FOI-PMO shall create a "FOI Internal Messenger." Such feature shall be included in the dashboards of FROs and FDMs, located at the eFOI portal or www.foi.gov.ph, where all FROs and FDMs can ask or confirm with each other on which agency has the control and custody of any information or record being requested.

Please see Annex "A" of this Circular for the No Wrong Door Policy Flowchart.

SECTION 7. Status of the Request. — A request that is referred to the appropriate government agency is considered successful if the same is acknowledged and the requested information is disclosed to the requestor.

If GA3, after the second referral, still cannot provide the information requested, it shall deny the said request and shall properly notify the requesting party.

In all phases of the referral, the requesting party shall be informed in writing, email, and/or through the eFOI of the status of his/her request.

SECTION 8. Inventory of Receiving Officers and Decision Makers, and Agency Information Inventory. — For the convenience of all FROs and FDMs in implementing this Circular, an inventory of the names and contact details of all designated FROs and FDMs of government agencies, and an Agency Information Inventory (AII) shall be compiled by the FOI-PMO.

The FOI-PMO shall be the central repository of the inventory of all designated FROs and FDMs and shall collate and update the names and contact information of the designated FROs and FDMs of each government agency. The inventory shall be posted at the eFOI portal, www.foi.gov.ph. FOI-PMO shall strictly adhere to Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

To assist the FROs in locating the requested information or record, an annual updating of the AII shall be required of all agencies on-boarded on the eFOI Portal. The consolidated inventory of information shall likewise be made available in the dashboard of the FRO and FDM for ease of access and information.

SECTION 9. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason, any part or provision of this Memorandum Circular is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 10. Repealing Clause. — All orders, rules and regulations, memoranda, circulars, and issuances or any part thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Memorandum Circular are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 11. Effectivity. — This Memorandum Circular shall take effect immediately.

Manila, Philippines, 27th day of August 2021.

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

ANNEX A

No Wrong Door Policy Flowchart