Recognizing the right to data privacy, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) recently developed and is now ready to share its guidelines in accessing the Listahanan 2 data or the poverty database.

Listahanan 2 is an information management system that provides national government agencies, development partners, and other social protection duty-bearers with information on who and where the poor are in the Philippines.

DSWD Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo said, “Ang Listahanan 2 ay ang updated database ng Department na nagsasaad kung sino at nasaan ang mga mahihirap. Kasama sa database na ito pati ang mga households na tinatawag nating “near poor” o yung bulnerableng mapabilang sa mga mahihirap.  Nais nating ibahagi ito upang maging basehan sa pagpili ng mga benepisyaryo ng iba’t-bang programa at serbisyo ng gobyerno maging ng ibang sector (Listahanan 2 is the updated database of DSWD which tells who and where the poor are.  Included in this database are the near poor households or those vulnerable to slide back to being poor. DSWD wants to share the database to become the basis in the identification of beneficiaries for programs and services).”

Under the guidelines, the poverty database may be shared with national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs), government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), civil society organizations (CSOs), members of the academe, and private foundations.  It is specified under the guidelines that the data to be accessed from Listahanan 2 database can only be used for social protection activities, such as but not limited to, provision of social services or enrollment in poverty reduction programs and the development of programs or projects.

The Secretary, however, noted that since the database contains information of the surveyed households, the DSWD has also taken consideration of the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

“Habang gusto nating ibahagi ang database, kailangan din nating maproteksiyunan ang impormasyong ipinagkatiwala sa atin ng mga  households na in-assess natin nuong nakaraang taon.  Kung kaya’t naglabas kami ng guidelines para masiguradong ang tamang impormasyon lamang ang maibabahagi at mamomonitor ang paggamit (As we share the database, we are also strict in our efforts to ensure that the information shared by the households are duly protected. We came up with this set of guidelines so that only the appropriate information is shared and which use is keenly monitored).”

The Department shared that for data protection and security, the sharing of Listahanan 2 data will be limited to information covering the total number of identified poor and near-poor households in the database.

It is stressed that for requests for full/whole database, especially including information on personal information (PI) and sensitive personal information (SPI) of data subjects, DSWD gives permission only upon proper justification and approval of the head of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction Project Management Office.

DSWD also emphasizes that requests for data which involves the PI and SPI will require entering a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with DSWD.  Requests for mere statistical and raw data will not require a MOA but a formal request letter citing reasons, and timeline for use is needed.

The guidelines also indicate that for NGAs, NGOs, GOCCs, CSOs, and private foundations, the request for data sharing is to be addressed to the DSWD Central Office while request for regional level and LGU level data sharing will be facilitated by the DSWD Regional Offices.

Documentary requirements needed to be submitted along with the letter requests are 1) original copy authorizing the head of the agency to enter into an agreement for data sharing with DSWD; 2) the name of designated Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the agency who will oversee data use, protection, and security of data; 3) valid proof of the identification of the agency and the DPO; and, 4) documents attesting to the legitimacy of the organization.

Sec. Taguiwalo added, “As indicated in the guidelines, the requesting party is also required to submit annual reports on how the data was used. Although the Listahanan has its limits, containing data on 15.1 million households, DSWD enjoins agencies with social protection programs and services to utilize the database to ensure that the right beneficiaries are identified. ###