How the men and women of the Duterte govt implemented FOI against all odds

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As a government official serving the Duterte administration, I'd like to share my 5 month work experience, so that you guys get a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes.

After the President signed the EO on FOI, he instructed the PCOO to oversee implementation.  There was no budget for FOI in the 2016 GAA. (None also for 2017 because the previous admin prepared next year's budget) There was also no personnel whatsoever for a project monitoring office.  And we were given only 120 days to implement the program.

Let me repeat.

No money. No people. And very little time.

But we did it.

Because the president told us to do so.

We scraped for funds here and there. We asked for technical assistance from other agencies like DICT and DBM. We convinced people to volunteer for FOI. And we worked hard, day in, day out.

With what we had, we conducted more than a dozen FOI workshops, drafted model FOI manuals, printed FOI forms, launched a working FOI website, and had 95% FOI Manual compliance rate across the departments, all within 120 days.

No complaints.

Just results.

Because this is a government that works.


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Kris Ablan as posted on Facebook.


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