Article III Section 7 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution guarantees the right of the people to information on matters of public concern. Access to official 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, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law. This constitutional right of an individual to access information has paved the way for the issuance of Executive Order No. 2 (E.O. No. 2).