The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) released its guidelines on the sharing of its database of poor households to partners and stakeholders under the Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR).
Listahanan is an information management system that aims to establish a database of poor households that will serve as a basis of the Department in the identification of beneficiaries for its different social protection programs and services.
Under Memorandum Circular No. 15, S. 2021 or the Guidelines on the Sharing of Data Generated from the Listahanan Database to External Stakeholders, the Listahanan data can be shared to various stakeholders to serve as their basis in targeting eligible beneficiaries for different anti-poverty programs and social protection services.
Specifically, the data that will be shared will come from the result of the Listahanan 3 or the third nationwide Listahanan household assessment which is expected to be completed on the last quarter of 2021.
Likewise, the Listahanan database maybe used for the development, planning, and implementing of research and other development projects for the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized sector.
The guidelines also provides a mechanism to safeguard and protect the sensitive and personal information of data subjects consistent with the Data Privacy Act and related circulars of the National Privacy Commission (NPC).
Once the data is completed, interested and potential users from national government agencies, local government units, non-government organizations, members of the academe, and private foundations, among others, may request for the Listahanan 3 data starting 1st quarter of 2022.
The DSWD also clarified that it has the right to decline a request for data sharing if the disclosure of Listahanan information will violate existing laws or any of the Department’s policies or guidelines.
Furthermore, the Department requires Listahanan data end-users to submit a feedback report on how the data was utilized in the development or conduct of specific programs and services for the poor. This will be submitted to the National Household Targeting Office or National Household Targeting Service (NHTS) of the concerned DSWD Field Offices.
As one of the gatekeepers of personal information, the Department also assured the public that it will adhere to data protection laws and principles to safeguard the information of its data subjects from unauthorized disclosure, access, or unlawful processing.
