Zamboanga City- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) officially presented the guidelines on the utilization of the Listahanan 2 database during the regional awarding of the 2017 Seal of Child-friendly Local Governance on August 16, 2017 at Grand Astoria Hotel.

“We are now inviting the Local Government Units (LGUs), National Government Agencies (NGAs), Non-government Organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders in Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Zamboanga del Sur to use our database considering that we already have the general guidelines for data-sharing,” said Michael D.S. Mustafa, Regional Focal Coordinator of Listahanan-9.

According to him, a stakeholder who will be requesting for statistical data generated by Listahanan 2 will only need to write a request letter addressed to the regional head. “They need to enumerate the specific data needed, the purpose of the request, and the timeline of the release of data,” Mustafa said.

Meanwhile, for those who will be requesting for Personal Information (PI) or Sensitive Personal Information (SPI), a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the stakeholder and the DSWD is needed. He also mentioned that all requesting parties are required to designate one Data Protection Officer (DPO) who shall plan, implement, and evaluate policies for data privacy and security. The stakeholder will also be required to submit an annual report on how the data was utilized in the implementation of social protection programs and services.

The Listahanan 2 is said to be the result of the household assessment conducted by the National Household Targeting Unit (NHTU) in 2015.

For this year, “our tentative target in data-sharing…since the guidelines were only approved by former Sec. Judy Taguiwalo last month, will have to be two provinces, one Highly Urbanized City (HUC), two NGAs, and two NGOs,” Mustafa said although it is still under negotiation due to the upcoming On-demand Application (ODA) activity scheduled in September this year.

“Despite the fact that some of the areas for ODA assessment are very critical, we will still push through to ensure the integrity of the database since we were not able to penetrate the remaining 21 barangays in Isabela City in 2015 due to security reasons,” added Mustafa.

The Listahanan as an information management system is the mechanism for identifying poor households who shall be recipients of social protection programs and services in the Philippines as stated in Executive Order No. 867, s. 2010. This targeting system accordingly uses a proxy means test (PMT) methodology to estimate the level of economic welfare of a certain household based on its socio-economic and demographic characteristics.

“The Listahanan is a response of the DSWD to contribute in the improvement of social protection programs of the government and in the equitable distribution of services and resources among the poor. It is well said that the Listahanan database is ‘sigurado, kumpleto at totoo’,” ended Mustafa.