Palace wants at least 2 FOI exemptions in place

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang is pushing for the non-disclosure of information if it is deemed a privilege of high government officials and if it is a matter of national security even under the Freedom of Information (FOI) measure, an official said Tuesday.

Debuty Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing that executive privilege and national security are two recognized exemptions to the popular bill which seeks to make government records and documents subject to public disclosure.

“Executive privilege is a recognized exemption under (international) jurisprudence,” Valte said.

She added that classified information on ongoing security and law enforcing operations may not be divulged as the move may do more harm than good.

Under the proposed law, concluded missions and operations, however, will be declassified after a certain number of years, Valte said.

President Benigno Aquino III hopes that the FOI will strike a balance between public access to government data “without hampering the work of government,” Valte said.

She also reacted to criticisms that the FOI version drafted by Palace officials as recommendation to both the Senate and the House of Representatives limits the access of the public—particularly the media—to information.

“They said that the version that came from Malacañang [seeks] to limit the access; that's not true,” she said.

The undersecretary added that the Palace’s draft even contains a provision requiring congressmen and senators to upload their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Network to the internet for the public to scrutinize.

“If I may add, the Senate adopted most if not all of the provisions found in the version we submitted to them,” Valte said.