The looming presidential directive on the Freedom of Information does not apparently mean President Duterte will be tearing down the wall that keeps him apart from the media.
The President strongly supports transparency in government but may continue to shun media interviews so he could focus on his work, according to his spokesman Ernesto Abella.
“He wants to devote his first 100 or so days to work and he does not want it hampered by having to answer little noises,” Abella said in a Palace press briefing when asked how they would reconcile Duterte’s FoI position with his cold relations with the press.
Asked if the President will reconsider granting media interviews, Abella said: “He has repeatedly said he will not talk anymore.”
The Palace official, however, said they intend to continue the “conversation” with the media even as the President has stopped granting interviews. “There will be a conversation. What you need to know, you will be able to know,” he added.
Malacañang had announced the President will soon issue an order giving greater public access to government documents in the Executive branch. The Executive branch is currently being drafted and may be released in the coming days.
Abella explained that the President pushes for FoI measure because “he abhors secrecy, desires transparency” in government. (GENALYN D. KABILING)