The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has been named as among the recipients of the 2021 Freedom of Information (FOI) Awards.
The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) conferred the award to the DSWD and other top performing agencies on Nov. 25 in Cebu City.
PCOO Undersecretary and FOI Program Director Atty. Kristian R. Ablan handed over a plaque of recognition to DSWD Field Office VII Director Rebecca Geamala, Regional Information Officer Leah Quintana, and Sharon Bumagat-Rivera of the DSWD Legal Service.
The DSWD was lauded “for being one of the top requested and performing agencies with 1,000 and above requests and with at least 90 percent closed transactions in the eFOI Portal and for its exception and significant contribution to the FOI Program’s progress and development.”
The FOI Awards seeks “to recognize the significant contributions of government departments and attached agencies, including government-owned and/or-controlled corporations (GOCCs), state universities and colleges (SUCs), and local government units (LGUs), to the development and progress of the FOI program.”
Leading the search for FOI champions is the PCOO which serves as the lead agency in FOI implementation in the Executive Branch.
The first FOI Awards ceremony was held in 2017 at the historic Rizal Park Hotel in Manila.