Pasig LGU strengthens institutionalization of FOI policy thru ‘Ugnayan’ office

In a bid to strengthen the institutionalization of the Freedom of Information (FOI) policy in Pasig City, the local government converted on Tuesday, July 25, the Ugnayan ng Pasig (USaP), its main FOI operational unit, into a full-fledged office. The ceremony was held at the Chardonnay by Astoria, and was attended by Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, Vice Mayor Robert “Dodot” Jaworski Jr., Rep. Roman Romulo, the 11th City Council; Serge Andal Jr., the chief-of-party of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Cities for Enhanced Governance and Engagement (CHANGE) Project; and Atty. Evangeline De Leon, assistant secretary for operations of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO). Members of USaP, and representatives from the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and other partner FOI offices from around the country also attended the event. Photo from Counc. Quin Cruz FB Page / MANILA BULLETIN
As the group was formed to implement [Ordinance No. 37, s. 2018, or the “Pasig Transparency Mechanism of 2018,”](https://www.scribd.com/document/390226409/PASIG-F-O-I-ORDINANCE-Final-Approved-Version#) USaP serves as a “one-stop-shop” to provide information services to the public, promote transparency through easy access and transactions, and encourage active citizen participation. Four years since its conception, USaP operated solely as a unit under the Office of the City Administrator (OCA). The conversion was made in accordance with Ordinance No. 45, s. 2022, which stated that USaP “has expanded its operations and has reached the point where it needs to be converted from a unit into a separate office.” According to Atty. Diego Santiago, deputy city administrator of Pasig, said that USaP’s extended role is needed “to make sure the checks and balances are followed.” “It will further empower the said office through the creation of additional plantilla positions,” said the local government. Following its conversion, the USaP office will be divided into four new sections, particularly the FOI Requests Section, which processes the regular FOI complaints, documents, and inquiries of the public through its information systems and the E-FOI Portal of the PCOO; the Front Desk Section, which provides services to in-person visits; the Grievance or Response Section, which settles complaints or prevents further escalation with the help of the City Administrator; and the Social Media Section that manages and answers citizen inquiries through the social media platforms of the office.

‘Pulse’ of society

Mayor Sotto said the USaP Office enables the local government to discover the “pulse of Pasig society” as it becomes a direct avenue for the public to communicate and engage in local governance. “‘Ugnayan sa Pasig,’ ibig sabihin nakikipag-ugnayan sa tao (It means establishing relationships and contact with people),” emphasized Sotto. “Hindi lang siya request for information kundi kung may gusto sabihin ang mga mamamayan natin, kung may komento ang mga Pasigueno, kung may reklamo sila, positive feedback pwede rin naman, pwede dumaan sa Ugnayan (It’s not just requests for information, but whatever our citizens want to say, what Pasiguenos’ comments are, their complaints, and even positive feedback can be passed to the office),” he explained. As the principal author of the city’s FOI ordinance, Sotto noted that the FOI has been his main advocacy since he was still a councilor, and he coordinated with the national government, civil society organizations, and the academe when he was drafting the ordinance. Sotto admitted that he experienced difficulties in passing the policy in the city council of the previous administration back in 2018 to 2019. He also shared the hurdles in the initial implementation of the FOI practices, wherein offices and departments of the local government were unable to fulfill FOI requests. The mayor urged for continued cooperation of all stakeholders to ensure the efficiency of USaP. “Part of accountability is recognizing where we need to improve,” Sotto said.

FOI Experience

The program included a brief discussion on the “FOI Experience,” detailing the processes involved in requesting documents, filing complaints and inquiries. A transmittal case report is filled out for logging complaints, citing its source and the corresponding office or department it is addressed to. Simple inquiries are submitted, then referred to the appropriate department. Information is given, and once accomplished, the case is considered resolved. For requesting documents, an information officer from USaP contacts the requestor, processes the request, and determines whether it is approved or denied. If denied, the request can appeal from the denial. Some of the important FOI documents are posted and free for public viewing at the second floor of the Pasig City Hall, the Pasig Mega Market, and the Ayala 30th Business One-Stop Shop. From July to December of 2019, fresh from the passage of the ordinance on July 15, USaP recorded a total of 9, 790 requests, consisting of 1,587 complaints, 42 FOI documents, 8,161 inquiries (from walk-ins, phone-ins, Facebook, and email). The number of requests rapidly grew to a total of 68,873 for the whole of 2020 (979 complaints, 123 FOI documents, and over 65,000 inquiries). In 2021, the FOI unit recorded 37,947 requests (922 complaints, 308 documents, 36,717 inquiries). In 2022, 41,881 requests were logged, inclusive of 1,848 complaints, 532 documents, and 39,501 inquiries. During the first six months of 2023, USaP has processed 31,524 requests (1,379 complaints, 256 documents, and 29,889 inquiries). Majority of inquiries in the last four years have been made via walk-ins to the USaP office and on their Facebook page. As the first local government in the National Capital Region (NCR) to implement an FOI policy, USaP has been the subject of various benchmarking activities by local government units from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. It has also been awarded with the FOI – Project Management Office in 2019 (FOI Awardee) and in 2022 (top requested and performing agencies in the eFOI portal category with “250 to 499 requests and with at least 90 percent closed transactions.”) “We consistently bank on our partnership with Pasig City and Ugnayan sa Pasig as it puts prime to our office’s vision to having access to information localized across the country,” said Atty. De Leon. USaP’s FOI operations are being conducted in partnership with USAID under its CHANGE project, which aims “to strengthen the environment for the centralization and enhancement of delivery capacity, legitimacy, and accountability of participating governments,” according to Andal. “The project helps empower citizens in participation and oversight of local governance projects in ways that the governments uphold, approach, and support…[as well as] provide a venue to understand FOI as a mechanism for transparency, engagement, and in planning, budgeting, monitoring and other local governance practices” added Andal. Pasig City is one of 90 beneficiary cities of the USAID-CHANGE project. Other partner FOI cities include Batangas, Cagayan De Oro, Legazpi City, Tagbiliran City, Tacloban, and Zamboanga.