Cebu Citizens-Press Council applauds signing of FOI ordinance in Cebu City

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) hailed the signing of the Freedom of Information ordinance in Cebu City.

On Thursday, July 28, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama signed the FOI Ordinance of 2019 entitled as “An Ordinance Operationalizing Freedom of Information in the City Government of Cebu and providing guidelines, thereof.”

Former Cebu City Councilor now Cebu City South District Rep. Eduardo Rama Jr. authored this ordinance and this was passed at the 15th Cebu City Council last June 2022.

In its released statement, the CCPC hopes to see that the signed FOI ordinance will stick to its purpose and intents. The FOI ordinance allows documents to be publicly available upon request, so as, with empowering the protection of data privacy.

READ: Mayor Rama signs Freedom of Information Ordinance in Cebu City 

Last June 1, the CCPC appealed to the 15th Cebu City Council “to finish its work” on the FOI ordinance in the city before its term ends on June 30, 2022.

“It has been a painfully slow program for FOI,  thus the local media’s  applause for each step taken on the road to  better  access, which the ordinance promises to provide, subject only to valid exceptions or limitations provided by the Constitution and laws and ordinances,” the statement reads.

Further, this new ordinance is the same as what former Jose Daluz III has authored, which the 14th Cebu City Council passed but was vetoed by Rama’s predecessor in 2017.

“It is another step toward institutionalizing access to information, started  with  President Duterte’s executive order  of July 23, 2016 that “operationalized” access to information in the executive branch.  The City ordinance seeks to provide the local mechanism for Cebu City Government offices where the people’s right to information is upheld,” the statement further reads. 

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Freedom of information ordinance passed in Cebu City

Cebu press backs proposed FOI ordinance