PCOO's FOI website draws flak for "di ko alam" entries
Published Jul 27, 2018 01:51 pm
By Argyll Cyrus Geducos
The government's Freedom of Information (FOI) website drew flak for its honest to goodness entries in its directory of government offices.
(screenshot from @peepaubau's Twitter account)
On Tuesday, Twitter user @peepaubau posted screenshots of the directory numbers section of different government agencies found in the the FOI website.
But when he got to the agencies Maritime Industry Authority and the Office for Transportation Security on the website, he found an honest admission that the website did not know the fax numbers of the said agencies.
Instead of dashes ("--") like what were found on other entries, the two agencies bore the phrases "D koalam eh" (I don't know), and "D ko din alam" (I also don't know), instead.
The Twitter called out the government in his post, saying it has been consistent in its errors in social media.
"Grabe talaga tong gobyernong ito, consistent everywhere. 'Di ko alam' entries are published sa government website (The consistency of this government is really something else. 'I don't know' entries are published in the government website)," @peepaubau tweeted.
He also posted a video of himself looking at the website to prove that his earlier screenshot was not edited.
The "Di ko alam" entries were immediately fixed but not until after it drew flak from netizens who complained about the error which came from the government's communication arm.
The official Twitter account of the government's FOI program, managed by the FOI-Project Management Office of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), replied to @peepaubau and said that they have already removed the error.
"Please be informed that we have since removed the error you have identified," it said.
"We appreciate your continued support as we work towards improving our services in providing you more up-to-date and accurate through FOI Philippines," it added.
According to PCOO Assistant Secretary for Policy Kris Ablan, Program Director of the FOI program, the said entries were encoded by its previous third-party information technology (IT) provider.
"Yes, we were able to determine that it was our third party IT provider who encoded the “hindi ko alam” entries on the FOI website. That contract ended in December 2017. We at the FOI Office recently hired our own IT staff, who deleted the said entries upon discovery," he told the Manila Bulletin.
Ablan also confirmed that the entries were made at the FOI website in November last year.
"Based on our initial findings of the logs, the entries were made November 2017. I instructed the new IT staff to submit a formal report next week," he said.
The FOI Program is the government's response to the call for transparency and full public disclosure of information. It is a mechanism which allows Filipinos to request any information about government transactions and operations, provided that such requests will not put privacy and national security at jeopardy.
The program was established after President Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) no. 2 on July 23, 2016. The EO applies to the Executive Branch of the government.
The PCOO oversees the implementation and operations of the FOI Program. It also serves as the coordinator of all government agencies to ensure that the FOI Program is properly implemented.
(screenshot from @peepaubau's Twitter account)
On Tuesday, Twitter user @peepaubau posted screenshots of the directory numbers section of different government agencies found in the the FOI website.
But when he got to the agencies Maritime Industry Authority and the Office for Transportation Security on the website, he found an honest admission that the website did not know the fax numbers of the said agencies.
Instead of dashes ("--") like what were found on other entries, the two agencies bore the phrases "D koalam eh" (I don't know), and "D ko din alam" (I also don't know), instead.
The Twitter called out the government in his post, saying it has been consistent in its errors in social media.
"Grabe talaga tong gobyernong ito, consistent everywhere. 'Di ko alam' entries are published sa government website (The consistency of this government is really something else. 'I don't know' entries are published in the government website)," @peepaubau tweeted.
He also posted a video of himself looking at the website to prove that his earlier screenshot was not edited.
The "Di ko alam" entries were immediately fixed but not until after it drew flak from netizens who complained about the error which came from the government's communication arm.
The official Twitter account of the government's FOI program, managed by the FOI-Project Management Office of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), replied to @peepaubau and said that they have already removed the error.
"Please be informed that we have since removed the error you have identified," it said.
"We appreciate your continued support as we work towards improving our services in providing you more up-to-date and accurate through FOI Philippines," it added.
According to PCOO Assistant Secretary for Policy Kris Ablan, Program Director of the FOI program, the said entries were encoded by its previous third-party information technology (IT) provider.
"Yes, we were able to determine that it was our third party IT provider who encoded the “hindi ko alam” entries on the FOI website. That contract ended in December 2017. We at the FOI Office recently hired our own IT staff, who deleted the said entries upon discovery," he told the Manila Bulletin.
Ablan also confirmed that the entries were made at the FOI website in November last year.
"Based on our initial findings of the logs, the entries were made November 2017. I instructed the new IT staff to submit a formal report next week," he said.
The FOI Program is the government's response to the call for transparency and full public disclosure of information. It is a mechanism which allows Filipinos to request any information about government transactions and operations, provided that such requests will not put privacy and national security at jeopardy.
The program was established after President Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) no. 2 on July 23, 2016. The EO applies to the Executive Branch of the government.
The PCOO oversees the implementation and operations of the FOI Program. It also serves as the coordinator of all government agencies to ensure that the FOI Program is properly implemented.