Department of Transportation(DOTr)

Good Day! 

I am a 5th-year Architecture Student, currently conducting my Undergraduate Thesis on the Redevelopment of Iloilo International Airport. In this regard, I would like to request the Feasibility Study of the Iloilo International Airport to be used as the basis for my study.

Rest assured that the requested data will be used solely for academic purposes. Thank you

26 August 2021

Dear Mr. Mejia,

Good day!

This pertains to your eFOI request with tracking no. #DOTr-282293166530 regarding Feasibility Study of Iloilo International Airport.

Pursuant to the State policy of full public disclosure, subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law and the Constitutional right of people to information on matters of public concern, Executive Order No. 2  (s. 2016) was issued ordering the access of every Filipino to information, official records, public records and to documents and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development. The right to access to information is however limited and shall be denied when the information falls under any exceptions enshrined in the Constitution, existing law or jurisprudence.

Relative thereto, an Inventory of Exceptions was issued by the Office the President for the guidance of all government offices and instrumentalities covered by EO No. 2 and the general public. The list is without prejudice to existing laws, jurisprudence, rules or regulations authorizing the disclosure of the excepted information upon satisfaction of certain cases.

After a judicious review of relevant laws, rules, orders and regulations, we submit the following comments and observations on the instant request:

	i. Feasibility Study of Iloilo International Airport

A feasibility study written by this Department should not be freely disseminated. Although it is a work of the government and hence not covered by copyright, it does not follow that the document can be made publicly available without restrictions.

The study likely includes recommendations, advisory opinions, and investigation reports, all of which contributed to a decision on the workability of the project. The study is thus exempt from disclosure because it contains matters covered by deliberative process privilege.

For similar reasons, a feasibility study commissioned to external consultants should not be given to the requestor. Pertinently, they hold copyright over the work, and as such, the study would not be for this Department to distribute. A sample feasibility study checklist reveals more specific types of information that are properly exempted from FOI requests, i.e., new technology and concepts; technical designs; and business, commercial, and financial information.

This Department's FOI People's Manual says that a ground for denial is previous denial issued to the "same Requesting Party." But we note that we already rejected a request for a feasibility, albeit from a different requestor, on very similar grounds as above.

Thank you.

Kriscia Mallari
FOI Officer