CSC to issue new rules on release of public information by government agencies

MANILA, Philippines - The Civil Service Commission (CSC) will come up with new rules on how government agencies will release public information.

CSC chairman Ricardo Saludo said the move aims to encourage transparency in government agencies, particularly in furnishing documents to the public.

“These are rules to promote and enhance transparency among government agencies (when it comes to documents considered as) public information,” Saludo told The STAR in a separate interview.

“The rules that we’ll come up with will require certain actions (that government agencies have to take) whenever they get a request for information from the public.”

These include establishing “simple procedures” in asking for government information. Officials and employees who fail to follow these procedures will face administrative charges, he said.

Saludo, who announced the plan during a CSC stakeholder’s forum last Thursday, did not elaborate on the contents of the new rules but said these would be released in a memorandum to all government agencies next week.

He said it was within the powers of the commission to issue such rules.

“The law already states it. We’re simply issuing rules to implement the law,” said Saludo, explaining the law already specifies only certain types of documents that government agencies cannot release to the public.

A policy of transparency in budget releases and other government transactions, including appointments, should be in place, according to the recently released Philippine Human Development Report.

The report, published by the Human Development Network in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program and the New Zealand Agency for International Development, said a policy of transparency could help guarantee accountability in government.