To promote better development, information sharing is a default practice that both ADB and the Government of the Philippines aim to promote and integrate into its internal culture. ADB, through its Philippine Country Office and Governance Thematic Group, acknowledges the need for combined efforts to push for the continuation and operationalization of freedom of information (FOI) work, particularly beyond its current scope and into the sphere of local government.

In the one year that the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) has been the lead agency in implementing Executive Order No. 2 in the Philippines, it has managed to set some of the groundwork required in execution of the freedom of information (FOI) program. The online tools, exceptions, and manuals that were created provided the initial framework needed for adoption and implementation within agencies, which also led to the creation of incentive schemes such as performance-based bonus for having the FOI Manual in the agency’s transparency seal.