Using the Executive Order on Freedom of Information (EO on FOI) to Monitor President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s Key Promises is a 12-month project funded by National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Its overall objective are: to strengthen CSO’s (civil society organization) capacity to engage in participatory governance, hold government accountable and help ensure that government programs achieve the desired results and to test the efficacy of the 2016 Executive Order on Freedom of Information in enabling CSOs to access information.

EO on FOI project is the continuation of the Data Access Towards Accountable Governance (DATAGov), a project that was also supported by NED to enhance the citizen participation in local governance. The DATAGov project enabled the CSOs to utilize the government data and directly engage with the government in all of its processes including LGU (local government unit) spending priorities. Similarly, the project Using the EO on FOI to Monitor PRRD’s Key Promises is another intervention to conduct constructive engagement with the government that would pave way for more equipped CSOs and most importantly, increased participation of the citizens in the local level. The project is currently being implemented in 4 regions together with the 4 partner networks namely, Coalition for Bicol Development (CBD), Central Visayas Network of NGOs (CENVISNET), Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks (MINCODE) and Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS), and Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies (PHILSSA).

As President Duterte campaigned for greater transparency in the government processes and increased citizen participation, the CSOs are even enabled to strengthen their capacities and reinforce more constructive engagement. With the signing of EO on FOI, documents and other government data are made publicly available for the citizen’s understanding and further analysis. Moreover, it paved way for the Philippine National Agencies, and government offices under the Executive Branch to be held accountable as they are mandated to strictly comply with the FOI Manual that shall clearly show the agencies’ guidelines and operating procedures in requesting data.

With EO on FOI, it is hoped that CSOs will have more capacity for constructive engagement, increased and strengthened participation, and provide meaningful and broad-based policy recommendation.

Last June 13-14, 2017, the CODE National Secretariat convened all the partner networks for a two-day National Orientation Workshop to level off the primary project objectives, key activities, research design of the project, and the regional working plan. To this, it was identified that the specific key themes for the project would be about the Assistance to Disadvantaged Municipalities (ADM) and the War against Drugs (WAD). As agreed, the project with its key themes, will be conducted simultaneously in 3 provinces per region.

In order to increase the knowledge, and enhance the skills and capacities of the partner networks to continue meaningful intervention, the CODE National Secretariat conducted a Capacity-Building Workshop on FOI last July 12-13, 2017. The two-day workshop was organized to familiarize the participants with the EO on FOI specifically its Manual as issued by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), and to identify the opportunities and mechanisms for collaboration and coordination with other CSOs and networks advocating for the effective implementation of Freedom of Information. To this, some of the notable speakers were invited – Ms. Malou Mangahas – PCIJ Executive Director, Ms. Michelle Manza – PCOO FOI Engagement Lead, and Ms. Joy Chavez – R2KRN Coalition Coordinator for Industrial Policy Team-Action for Economic Reforms to shed light on the 1.) Advocacy of FOI, its History, Challenges and Opportunities, 2.) Mechanics for Implementing the EO on FOI, and 3.) Opportunities for Collaboration and Coordination.

The project is envisioned to hold government accountable with all its undertakings especially in ensuring that government programs are being achieved accordingly, and to test the effectiveness of the Freedom of Information to guarantee that CSOs have full access to information and be able to form a meaningful intervention through constructive engagement and policy recommendation.