The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Region IX signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the lead agency in social welfare and development in order to access and utilize the local database of poor families based on the results of the second round of Listahanan assessment in 2015.

“Since DOLE has already entered into MOA…they can already be given an access to our database,” said Michael Mustafa, Regional Field Coordinator (RFC) of the National Household Targeting Unit (NHTU) of DSWD FO IX.

He added that the said partner agency will use the information management system for planning purposes and as well as in “identifying potential beneficiaries of their respective programs.”

Mustafa also mentioned that DOLE IX was the first national government agency (NGA) to partner with them after the Listahanan 2 database was officially completed last year.

“Right now, we wish to invite more stakeholders to utilize our database. Aside from the aforementioned, it (database) can also be used for validation and research purposes,” he ended.

The signing of MOA was held on January 15 in time with the blessing of the new office building of DOLE IX located at Evangelista St., Sta. Catalina, Zamboanga City.

In 2017, the guidelines for data sharing were released in order to address the requirement for the proper management of the data of poor households. This will also strengthen the mechanism for data sharing by ensuring compliance to pertinent laws, including Republic Act 10173 otherwise known as the Data Privacy Act of 2012 which aims “to protect the fundamental human right of privacy, of communication while ensuring free flow of information to promote innovation and growth” in both the public and private sectors. ###