Implementing Rules and Procedures of Executive Order No. 02, S. 2016 or Freedom of Information (FOI)

January 29, 2018

TAPI MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 2017-01

 

ARTICLE I

Overview

SECTION 1. Purpose. — The purpose of the FOI Manual is to provide the process to guide and assist the Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI) in dealing with the requests of information received under Executive Order (EO) No. 2, s. 2016 or Freedom of Information (FOI).

SECTION 2. Structure of the Manual. — This Manual shall set out the rules and procedures to be followed by the Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI) when a request for access to information is received.

ARTICLE II

Definition of Terms

1. ANNUAL FOI REPORT. — A report to be filed each calendar year with the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) by the Institute detailing the administration of the FOI. Annual FOI Reports contain detailed statistics on the number of FOI requests and appeals received, processed, the frequently requested information, and pending at each government office.

2. CONSULTATION. — When the Institute locates a record that contains information of interest to another office, it will ask the views of that other agency on the disclosure of the records before any final determination is made. This process is called a "consultation."

3. DEPARTMENT CENTRAL APPEALS AND REVIEW COMMITTEE. — An independent review of the initial determination made in response to a FOI request. Requesting parties who are dissatisfied with the response made on their initial request have a right to appeal that initial determination to the Department Central Appeals and Review Committee at the DOST Central Office which will then conduct an independent review.

4. EXCEPTIONS. — Information that should not be released and disclosed in response to a FOI request because they are protected by the Constitution, laws or jurisprudence.

5. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION. — The Executive Branch recognizes the right of the people to information on matters of public concern, and adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest, subject to the procedures and limitations provided in Executive Order No. 2. This right is indispensable to the exercise of the right of the people and their organizations to effective and reasonable participation at all levels of social, political and economic decision-making.

6. FOI CONTACT. — The name, address and phone number of the Institute where the FOI request may be submitted.

7. FOI REQUEST. — A written request submitted to the Institute personally or by email asking for records on any topic. A FOI request can generally be made by any Filipino.

8. FOI RECEIVING OFFICE. — The primary contact of the Institute where the requesting party can call and ask questions about the FOI process or the pending FOI request.

9. FOI RECEIVING OFFICER (FRO). — A person designated by the Institute to receive and assess the requests for Information under the Freedom of Information.

10. FOI DECISION MAKER (FOI-DM). — Refers to the Head of the Institute. A person designated to decide on the requests for information under the Freedom of Information (FOI).

11. FREQUENTLY REQUESTED INFORMATION. — Information released in response to a FOI request that the agency determines have become or are likely to become the subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records.

12. FULL DENIAL. — When the Institute cannot release any records in response to a FOI request, because, for example, the requested information is exempt from disclosure in its entirety or no records responsive to the request could be located.

13. FULL GRANT. — When the Institute is able to disclose all records in full in response to a FOI request.

14. INFORMATION. — Shall mean any records, documents, papers, reports, letters, contracts, minutes and transcripts of official meetings, maps, books, photographs, data, research materials, films, sound and video recording, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data, computer stored data, any other like or similar data or materials recorded, stored or archived in whatever format, whether offline or online, which are made, received, or kept in or under the control and custody of any government office pursuant to law, executive order, and rules and regulations or in connection with the performance or transaction of official business by any government office.

15. INSTITUTE. — Refers to the Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI).

16. PERSONAL INFORMATION. — Shall refer to any information, whether recorded in a material form or not, from which the identity of an individual is apparent or can be reasonably and directly ascertained by the entity holding the information, or when put together with other information would directly and certainly identify an individual.

17. MULTI-TRACK PROCESSING. — The Institute shall formulate a system that divides incoming FOI requests according to their complexity so that simple requests requiring relatively minimal review are placed in one processing track and more complex requests are placed in one or more other tracks.

18. PARTIAL GRANT/PARTIAL DENIAL. — When the Institute is able to disclose portions of the records in response to a FOI request, but must deny other portions of the request.

19. PENDING REQUEST OR PENDING APPEAL. — An FOI request or administrative appeal for which the Institute has not yet taken final action in all respects. It captures anything that is open at a given time including requests that are well within the statutory response time.

20. PERFECTED REQUEST. — A FOI request, which reasonably describes the records, sought and is made in accordance with the Institute's regulations.

21. PROACTIVE DISCLOSURE. — Information made publicly available by the Institute without waiting for a specific FOI request. TAPI now post in its websites a vast amount of material concerning its functions and mission.

22. PROCESSED REQUEST OR PROCESSED APPEAL. — The number of requests or appeals where the Institute has completed its work and sent a final response to the requesting party.

23. RECEIVED REQUEST. — An FOI request or administrative appeal that the Institute has received within a fiscal year.

24. REFERRAL. — When the Institute locates a record that originated with, or is of otherwise primary interest to another agency, it will forward that record to the other agency to process the record and to provide the final determination directly to the requester. The process is called a "referral."

25. SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION. — As defined in the Data Privacy Act of 2012, shall refer to personal information:

a. About an individual race, ethnic origin, marital status, age, color, and religious philosophical or political affiliations;

b. About an individual health, education, genetic or sexual life of a person, or to any proceedings for any offense committed or alleged to have committed by such person, the disposal of such proceedings or the sentence of any court in such proceedings;

c. Issued by government agencies peculiar to an individual which includes, but not limited to, social security numbers, previous or current health records, licenses or its denials, suspension or revocation, and tax returns; and

d. Specifically established by an executive order or an act of Congress to be kept classified. CAIHTE

ARTICLE III

Agency Information Inventory

SECTION 3. Agency Information Inventory. — The masterlist of the government information held by the Institute and the file type of each information.

Category	Meaning
Public	All information that do not fall under TAPI's list of exempted documents under FOI.
Exception
	1. Transactions with Non-Disclosure Agreements
	a. Evaluations
	b. Reports
	c. Contests: Rating Sheets, Entries submitted
	d. All other declassified documents
	2. Intellectual Property
	a. Accomplished Invention Disclosure Form
	b. Prior arts search reports on applications for IPR Assistance Program
	c. Unfiled specification, technical description
	d. Unpublished IP applications and official correspondences
	e. Unfiled IP applications
	f. IP due diligence: FTO opinions/reports, IP valuation reports without the consent of the technology owners
	g. All documents related to applications that are not yet filed not published that shall be requested by a third person
	3. Transactions of the Fairness Opinion Board
	a. Proposed licensing agreements
	b. Proposed term sheets
	c. Due diligence reports/information (i.e., FTO, valuation, company profile)
	d. FAIRNESS Opinion Reports
	4. Requests for Assistance that are not yet approved
	a. Proposals and supporting documents
	b. Letter requests
	c. Evaluation reports
	5. Legal-related matters
	a. Documents that are subject of legal proceedings
	b. Evidence of the plaintiff or defendant
	6. Personal Information of TAPI officials and employees, experts and clients, unless there is prior consent from the concerned party or upon order by the court
	7. Unofficial documents
	a. Unsigned communications
	b. Draft reports
	c. Drafts and Notes of Instructions
	8. Minutes of the Meeting (ONLY excerpts or portion concerning the request)
	9. Proposals or any part of it including attachments, sketch/drawings (unless the requesting party is the owner/author of the proposal, otherwise only the Abstract of the Proposal may be released)
	10. Results of the Evaluation (ONLY if the requesting party is officially involved with the proposal)
	11. Details of computation of cost for posting in PhilGeps. Only the total amount shall be released.
	12. Proposal evaluation
	13. Bank details per LOI
	14. Notes and instructions during the process of the approval of the assistance including notes of instructions given to the proponent
	15. Any detail in the documents and attachments of the proposal/project from evaluation to completion stage which may possibly destroy/affect the novelty of any potential, present and future IPR, trade secrets and know-how or any other information that may be deemed confidential by the technology developer, monitoring agency, funding agency which may prejudice, negatively affect, or impede the commercialization and transfer of technology by the developer and utilization by the public.
	The immediately preceding paragraph includes, but not be limited to:
	• Email communications (except if the party requesting is part of the email thread and/or part of the subject/discussion. However, only the portion involving him/her could be disclosed)
	• Technical reports, assessments, and plans (Business Plan, FTO, Valuation, Terminal Report, Field Monitoring, Appraisal, etc.)
	• Financial information or details, except the amount released to project and utilization
	16. Result or status of evaluation (i.e.: passed, endorsed, approved for funding, deferred, subject to revision) minutes of meeting, except if the Requesting Party is part of the discussion and limited to the portion involving him/her.
	17. Complete documents (Business Plan Valuation Reports). Part of this document may be released subject to the approval of the technology owner.
	18. Financial Records (Bank Details per LOI of evaluators, consultants, etc.)
	19. Records of Evaluation (ONLY the final/consensus evaluation/rating/comments/recommendations could be disclosed to the public.
Internal	Information which is to be utilized within the Institute only.
With fee	Reasonable fee for the reproduction of information/documents which do not fall under the list of exempted documents.
Limited	Information which can only be disclosed to specific person/s and/or entity/ies.

SECTION 4. Standard FOI Registry. — The Registry is the log of all FOI requests, written and electronic, received by the Institute for the specific quarter covered by the submission. The Registry shall be managed by the FOI Receiving Officer (FRO) and will be the basis for measuring agency performance and compliance on the FOI Program implementation.

FOI Requests shall be tagged with corresponding statuses.

1. Accepted — Requests that has been validated and verified by the FRO and has been forwarded to the FOI Decision Maker (FDM).

2. Awaiting Clarification — Request has incomplete details or missing field/s and has been returned to the requesting party.

3. Perfected — Request which reasonably describes the records, sought and is made in accordance with the Institute's regulations.

4. Processing/Pending — Request has been received by the FDM and is now being processed by the agency.

SECTION 5. Quarterly Submissions of Inventory and Registry. — The Institute, thru its FRO, shall submit the accomplished Inventory and Registry in a quarterly basis.

The following quarterly submission schedule shall be observed:

Quarter	Report Coverage	Submission Date
Q1	January 1 to March 31	April 30
Q2	April 1 to June 30	July 31
Q3	July 1 to September 30	October 31
Q4	October 1 to December 31	January 31 of the succeeding year

SECTION 6. Submission Process. — Submissions should both be in electronic and printed copies which will include the following details in the cover memorandum:

Name of Institute	:	Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI)
Address	:	DOST-TAPI, DOST Compound, General Santos Avenue, Bicutan, Taguig City
Website	:	tapi.dost.gov.ph
Contact Details	:	Telephone Number 837-6188

Total Number of Requests Received

FOI Registry Summary which shall include the following information/request statuses:

1. Accepted/Perfected

2. Awaiting clarification

3. Processing/Pending

4. Pending Appeals

5. Information already disclosed

6. Information already available online

7. Requests fully granted

8. Requests partially granted

9. Requests denied

10. Requests with extension on deadline

11. Requests that has not been acted within the prescribed period

The electronic copies shall be sent to [email protected]. The printed copies shall be submitted to:

Office of the Secretary

SECTION 7. Submission of Certifications. — Certifications signed by the TAPI Director may be submitted if no FOI Requests have been received for the period covered.

ARTICLE IV

Focal Persons

SECTION 8. Focal Persons. — The following shall hereby be designated as the focal persons for the implementation of the TAPI Freedom of Information (FOI)Rules and Procedures:

1. FOI Receiving Officer (FRO): There shall be a FOI Receiving Officer (FRO) designated at the Institute. The FRO shall preferably come from the Public Assistance or Information Office. The FRO shall hold office at the Records Office.

 The functions of the FRO shall include the following:

a. On behalf of the Institute, receive and review all requests for information, whether the same is complete in form and advice the Requesting Party of the status of his request/s;

b. Provide assistance to the Requesting Party in the accomplishment of forms;

c. Clarify request, if necessary;

d. Forward/endorse the request to the FOI Decision Maker (FOI-DM) for decision;

e. Inform the Requesting Party of the extension of time for the release of information, if required by the FOI-DM;

f. Inform the Requesting Party of the result of his request; and

g. Record all the requests and compile statistical information as required.

2. FOI Decision Maker (FOI-DM). The Director shall be the FOI Decision Maker (FOI-DM).

 The functions of the FOI-DM shall include the following:

a. Be responsible for all actions carried out under this Manual;

b. Have overall responsibility for the initial decision on FOI requests, (i.e., to decide whether to release all the records, partially release the records or deny access);

c. Locate the information requested and inform/consult with the division concerned;

d. Decide whether to approve, deny or partially approve the request; and

e. Issue or update list of exempted documents under FOI upon approval of the TAPI Executive Committee thru a Resolution.

ARTICLE V

Promotion of Openness in Government

SECTION 9. Duty to Publish Information/Pro-Active Disclosure. — The Institute shall regularly publish, print and disseminate at no cost to the public and in an accessible form and through its website timely, true, accurate and updated key information, in conjunction with Republic Act No. 9485 otherwise known as "The Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007" and R.A. 10173 otherwise known as "The Data Privacy Act," including, but not limited to:

a. A description of its mandate, structure it delivers and the procedure and decision-making processes;

b. A description of the frontline services it delivers and the procedure and length of time by which they may be availed of;

c. The names of its key officials, their powers, functions and responsibilities, and their profiles and curriculum vitae;

d. Work programs, development plans, investment plans, projects, performance targets and accomplishments, and budgets, revenue allotments and expenditures;

e. Important rules and regulations, orders or circulars;

f. Current and important database and statistics that it generates;

g. Bidding processes and requirements; and

h. Mechanisms or procedures by which the public may participate in or otherwise influence the formulation of policy or the exercise of its powers.

SECTION 10. Accessibility of Language and Form. — The Institute shall endeavor to translate key information into major Filipino languages and present them in popular form and means.

SECTION 11. Keeping of Records. — The Institute shall create and/or maintain in appropriate formats, accurate and reasonably complete documentation or records, policies, transactions, decisions, resolutions, enactments, actions, procedures, operations, activities, communications and documents received or filed with them and the generated or collected.

ARTICLE VI

Protection of Privacy

SECTION 12. While providing for access to information, the Institute shall afford full protection to a person's right to privacy, as follows:

1. The Institute shall ensure that personal information, particularly sensitive personal information, in its custody or under its control is disclosed only as permitted by existing laws;

2. The Institute shall protect personal information in its custody or under its control by making reasonable security arrangements against unauthorized access, leaks or premature disclosure;

3. The FRO, FOI-DM, or any employee or official who has access, whether authorized or unauthorized, to personal information in the custody of the Institute, shall not disclose that information except as authorized by existing laws.

ARTICLE VII

Standard Procedure

SECTION 13. Receipt of Written Request for Information. —

1. The FOI Receiving Officer (FRO) shall receive the request for information from the Requesting Party and check compliance of the following requirements:

a. The request must be in writing. The Requesting Party shall fill-up the FOI Request Form or Pormularyo ng Kahilingan (Form 1);

b. The request shall state the name and contact information of the Requesting Party, as well as a copy of a duly recognized primary and secondary valid ID with photo;

c. The request shall reasonably and specifically describe the information requested, and the reason for, or purpose of, the request for information; and

d. The Requesting Party shall affix his signature in the FOI Request Form or Pormularyo ng Kahilingan (Form 1).

2. In case the Requesting Party is unable to make a written request, because of illiteracy or due to being a person with disability, he or she may make an oral request, and the FRO shall reduce it in writing. The Requesting Party may also be assisted by a literate or able companion who shall also submit his valid identification card and affix his signature in the request form. The FRO shall provide appropriate advice and assistance to the Requesting Party regarding the requirements/forms needed for the request of information.

3. The perfected request shall be stamped received by the FRO, indicating the date and time of the receipt of the written request. If the request was received by a person other than the FRO, the name, rank, title and position of the public officer who actually received it shall be indicated in the request form, with a corresponding signature and a copy, furnished to the requesting party. The FRO shall input the details of the request on the Request Tracking System and allocate a reference number.

4. If the information being requested is not clearly indicated in the request form, the FRO shall seek clarification from the Requesting Party. This will toll the fifteen (15)-working day deadline which will resume the day after the FRO receives the required clarification from the requesting party.

5. If no clarification or perfected request was received within thirty (30) calendar days, the request shall be automatically denied.

6. The Institute must respond to the requests promptly, within the fifteen (15)-working day period following the date of receipt of the request. A working day is any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or a day, which is declared a national public holiday in the Philippines. In computing for the period, Art. 13 of the New Civil Code shall be observed.

SECTION 14. Receipt of Request for Information thru Electronic Mail. —

1. The request can be made through email, provided that the requesting party shall attach in the email a scanned copy of the FOI application request, and a copy of a duly recognized primary and secondary valid ID with photo.

2. If the Request for Information was sent to TAPI thru its official email address, the Management Information System (MIS) Staff shall acknowledge receipt of said email and shall indicate therein that the request will be forwarded to the FRO for initial evaluation.

3. The MIS Staff shall forward a printed copy of the request to the FRO within two (2) working days for initial assessment of the request. The FRO shall assess the request whether it is in compliance with Section 13, Paragraph 1 of this Circular. It shall, thereafter, be stamped received. Otherwise, the FRO shall prepares reply for the Requesting Party clarifying or directing the latter to comply with the requirements under Section 13, Paragraph 1 of this Circular.

4. The FRO shall send a copy of the stamped perfected request or a reply requesting for clarification, as the case may be.

5. If the request was sent to the email address of any of the TAPI Staff other than the official email address of TAPI, said staff shall also acknowledge receipt of the request and shall follow the immediately preceding procedures.

6. The date of receipt of the request will be either:

a. The day on which the request is physically or electronically delivered to the Institute, or directly into the email inbox of the TAPI staff or TAPI official email address; or

b. If the FRO required the Requesting Party for further details to identify and locate the requested information, the date on which the necessary clarification and perfected request was received.

7. An exception to this will be where the request has been emailed to an absent member of staff, and this has generated an 'out of office' message with instructions on how to re-direct the message to another contact. Where this is the case, the date of receipt will be the day the request arrives in the inbox of that contact.

SECTION 15. Role of FRO in Initial Evaluation of the Request. — After receipt of the request for information, the FRO shall evaluate the contents of the request and shall assess the following:

1. If the Institute has custody of the requested information, the FRO shall accept the request. Otherwise, the FRO shall refer the request to the appropriate Advisory Body/Council/RDI/Service Institute who is in custody of the information.

2. If the same Requesting Party requests for the same information which was already furnished by the Institute, subsequent request of the same information from the same Requesting Party shall be denied. However, the FRO shall inform the applicant of the reason of such denial.

3. The FRO shall input the details of the request on the Request Tracking System and allocate a reference number once a perfected request was received.

4. The FRO shall forward/endorse the request to the FOI Decision Maker (FOI-DM) within two (2) working days for approval or denial. The FRO shall record the date, time and name of the FOI-DM who received the request in a record book with the corresponding signature of acknowledgement of receipt of the request.

5. The FRO shall inform the Requesting Party of action taken by the Institute within two (2) working days upon receipt of the request.

SECTION 16. Request Relating to MoreThan One Division under the Institute. — This refers to an instance where the information being requested needs to be complied by two or more divisions of the Institute.

1. The FRO shall endorse the request to the FOI Decision Maker (FOI-DM) within two (2) working days. DETACa

2. The FOI-DM, after receiving the request from the FRO, shall forward such request to the concerned divisions with key interest within three (3) working days.

3. The divisions with key interest shall have a maximum of three (3) working days to provide the information which shall be forwarded to the FOI-DM.

4. The division with key interest may request for an extension of time to provide the information needed in cases falling under Section 21 of this Circular. The FRO shall inform the Requesting Party of the said extension, setting forth the reason/s for such. In no case shall the extension exceed twenty (20) working days, unless exceptional circumstances warrant a longer period.

5. The FOI-DM shall render decision whether to approve, deny, or partially approve only a portion of the request for information within ten (10) working days from the date of receipt of the request from FRO. Said decision shall be communicated with the FRO.

SECTION 17. Requested Information is not in the Custody of the Institute. — This refers to an instance where the information being requested is not in the custody of TAPI.

1. If the information requested refers to another Advisory Body/Council/RDI/Service Institute, the request will be immediately transferred to such appropriate Advisory Body/Council/RDI/Service Institute through the most expeditious manner or within three (3) working days. The FRO must inform the Requesting Party that the information is not in the custody of TAPI within the 15 working days period. The FRO must also inform the Requesting Party that his/her perfected request was already referred to the appropriate Advisory Body/Council/RDI/Service Institute.

2. If the records refer to an office not within the coverage of E.O. No. 2, the requesting party shall be advised accordingly and provided with the contact details of that office, if known.

3. In case of inability to determine the office which has custody over the documents or if the request have been previously transferred from one office and the requested information is not in the custody of the third office which received the request, the same shall be referred by the latter to the DOST Central Office within three (3) working days from its receipt of the perfected request.

SECTION 18. Requested Information is Already Posted and Available On-Line. — Should the information being requested is already posted, having pro-active disclosure and publicly available in the Institute website, www.tapi.dost.gov.ph or foi.gov.ph, the FRO shall inform the requesting party of the said fact and provide them the website link where the information is posted.

SECTION 19. Role of FOI Decision Maker (FOI-DM) in Processing the Request. — Upon receipt of the request for information from the FRO, the FOI-DM shall assess and clarify the request, if necessary. He or she shall make all necessary steps to locate and retrieve the information requested. The FOI-DM shall ensure that the complete information requested be submitted to the FRO within 10 days upon receipt of such request.

1. The FOI-DM shall note of the date and time of receipt of the information.

2. If the FOI-DM needs further details to identify or locate the information, he shall, through the FRO, seek clarification from the requesting party. The clarification shall stop the running of the 15 working day period and will commence the day after it receives the required clarification from the requesting party.

3. The FOI-DM shall review contents of the documents and apply the relevant exemption. He shall also consult with the division concerned on the disclosure of the records before making any final determination.

4. The FOI-DM may also seek clearance from the Office of the Secretary, if necessary. Provided, the Institute shall ensure that the requested information shall be released within the fifteen (15) working day period to furnish information.

5. The FOI-DM shall communicate his/her decision to the FRO whether the request for information is Full Grant, Full Denial, or Partial Grant/Partial Denial and the reason for the said decision.

SECTION 20. Role of FRO to Transmit the Processed Request to the Requesting Party. — Upon receipt of the requested information from the FOI-DM, the FRO shall collate and ensure that the information is complete.

1. The FRO shall attach a cover/transmittal letter signed by the Director/FOI-DM and ensure the transmittal of such to the Requesting Party within 15 working days upon receipt of the request for information.

2. If the Requesting Party asked for information in a certain format, comply with the latter's request, if practical.

3. Update FOI Tracker and save the Institute's response to the request.

SECTION 21. Request for an Extension of Time. — The instances when request for an extension of time to furnish information may be allowed.

a) If the information requested requires extensive search of the government's office records facilities;

b) Examination of voluminous records; and

c) The occurrence of fortuitous events or other analogous cases.

In these cases, the FOI-DM should inform the FRO. The FRO shall inform the requesting party of the extension, setting forth the reasons for such extension. In no case shall extension exceed twenty (20) working days on top of the mandated fifteen (15) working days to act on the request, unless exceptional circumstances warrant a longer period.

SECTION 22. Full Grant of Request. — In case of approval, the FRO shall ensure that all records that have been retrieved and considered be checked for possible exemptions, prior to actual release. The FRO shall prepare the letter or email informing the Requesting party within the prescribed period that the request was fully granted and be directed to pay reasonable cost of reproduction and copying of the information/documents requested, if any.

SECTION 23. Full Denial of Request. — In case of denial of the request wholly or partially, the FRO shall, within the prescribed period, notify the Requesting Party of the denial in writing. The notice shall clearly set forth the ground or grounds for denial and the circumstances on which the denial is based.

SECTION 24. Partial Grant/Partial Denial. — When the Institute is able to disclose portions of the records in response to a FOI request, but must deny other portions of the request, the FRO shall, within the prescribed period, notify the Requesting Party of the Partial Grant/Partial Denial in writing. The notice shall clearly set forth the ground or grounds for Partial Grant/Partial Denial and the circumstances on which the decision was based.

Failure to notify the requesting party of the action taken on the request within the period herein provided shall be deemed a denial of the request to information. All denials on FOI requests shall pass through the Director.

SECTION 25. No Unauthorized Distribution of Information. — No information or data shall be transferred or distributed to third parties without the express consent by the Institute.

ARTICLE VIII

Remedies in Case of Denial

SECTION 26. Remedies in Case of Denial. — A person whose request for access to information has been denied may avail himself of the remedy set forth below:

1. Administrative FOI Appeals and Review Committee at the Office of the Secretary. Provided, that the written appeal must be filed by the same Requesting Party within fifteen (15) calendar days from the notice of denial or from the lapse of the period to respond to the request.

2. Appeal to the Office of the President. The denial of the Appeal by the DOST Secretary or the lapse of the period to respond to the request may be Appealed further to the Office of the President under Administrative Order No. 22, s. 2011.

3. Filing of Appropriate Judicial Action in Court. Upon exhaustion of administrative FOI appeal remedies, the requesting party may file the appropriate judicial action in accordance with the existing laws, rules, and jurisprudences.

ARTICLE IX

Request Tracking System

The Institute shall establish a system to trace the status of all requests for information received by it, which may be paper-based, on-line or both.

ARTICLE X

Fees

SECTION 27. Reasonable Cost of Reproduction and Copying of the Information. — The Institute shall not charge any fee for accepting requests for access to information. However, the Institute may impose reasonable cost of reproduction and copying of the information/documents requested. The FRO shall immediately notify the requesting party in case there shall be a reproduction and copying fee in order to provide the information. Such fee shall be the actual amount spent by the Institute in providing the information to the requesting party which will be paid to the TAPI Cashier upon issuance of official receipt.

SECTION 28. Exemption from Fees. — The Institute may exempt any requesting party from payment of fees, upon request stating the valid reason why such requesting party shall not pay the fee.

The following may be exempted from payment of reasonable cost of production and copying of information:

1. Senior Citizens

2. Students

3. Indigents

4. Persons with Disabilities

ARTICLE XI

Administrative Liability

SECTION 29. Non-Compliance with FOI. — Failure to comply with the provisions of this Manual shall be a ground for the following administrative penalties:

1st Offense — Reprimand

2nd Offense — Suspension of one (1) to thirty (30) days; and

3rd Offense — Dismissal from the service

SECTION 30. Procedure. — The Revised Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service shall be applicable in the disposition of cases under this Manual.

SECTION 31. Provisions for More Stringent Laws, Rules and Regulations. — Nothing in this Manual shall be construed to derogate from any law, any rules, or regulation prescribed by anybody or agency, which provides for more stringent penalties.

ARTICLE XII

Miscellaneous Provisions

SECTION 32. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason, any provision of these rules is declared unconstitutional or contrary to law, the other parts or provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

SECTION 33. Effectivity. — These rules shall become effective fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette. Upon becoming effective, these rules shall be applied to pending requests for information before the Institute to the extent that they are applicable.

(SGD.) ENGR. EDGAR I. GARCIA

Director

ATTACHMENT

Pormularyo ng KahilinganFOI Request Form

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 114, No. 5, Page 754 on January 29, 2018.