The Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office V through the Listahanan, conducted a series of orientation on the new data sharing guidelines to all local social welfare offices in the region  this month in all provinces to establish a systematic way of data sharing and to ensure data security,.

“The data sharing guidelines were enhanced in consideration with the right to data privacy.” Assistant Regional Director for Operations and Listahanan Deputy Regional Project Manager Arwin O. Razo said.

Republic Act 10173 or the Data Privacy Act is a law  that  protects  individual  personal information  stored  in information  and  communications  systems  of  the  government  and the private sector. It aims to protect the fundamental human right to privacy while ensuring the free flow of information to promote innovation and growth.

Under the guidelines, the Listahanan database may be shared with national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs), civil society organizations (CSOs), private foundations and academe and shall be used as basis in identifying potential beneficiaries of social protection programs and services.

Razo stressed that the information available in the Listahanan only covers the total number poor and near poor households in the database assessed by the DSWD.

In 2015, it can be recalled that the DSWD conducted house-to-house interviews to get the socioeconomic information of the households. This resulted in the identification of 369, 395 poor households out of the 1, 074,005 total assessed in the Bicol Region.

Meanwhile,  Project Development Officer IV Mr. Joy Belen III said: “all requests for personal information or any recorded information that would reveal the identity of a person such as name, address, gender, etc. requires to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the agency while formal letter request for statistical data.”

To request the list of poor households (including their personal information), the following documents are needed along with the letter of request addressed to the Regional Director:

Local Government Units (LGUs)

  • Signed MOA (Governor/Mayor)
  • Sangguniang Panlalawigan/ Bayan Resolution
  • Executive Order designating a Provincial/City/Municipal Data Privacy Officer

National Government Agencies (NGAs)

  • Signed MOA with designated Data Protection Officer

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)

  • Signed MOA with designated Data Protection Officer (DPO)
  • Board Resolution (orig. copy)
  • Valid proof of identification of agency head and DPO
  • SEC Registration

Likewise, as stated in the guidelines, all stakeholders requesting access to the list of poor are required to designate at least one (1) Data Protection Officer who will oversee the use, security and protection of the data.

Furthermore, data users shall submit an annual report to the DSWD on how the data were utilized including if these were shared with other data users.

Listahanan, also known as the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are nationwide.###