ODIONGAN, Romblon- Represented by its President, Dr. Arnulfo De Luna, the Romblon State University (RSU) forged partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on Data Sharing under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction better known as ‘Listahanan.’

“Listahanan is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are in the country. This system makes available to government and non-government institutions a database of poor families as basis in identifying potential beneficiaries of social protection programs such as Pantawid Pamilya and Sustainable Livelihood and Social Pension,” said DSWD MiMaRoPa Regional Director Wilma Naviamos.

Under the said partnership, DSWD will provide assistance to its partners in implementing programs and services that will alleviate poverty and empower disadvantaged individuals and poor families.

RSU Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Elvin Gaac said that access to the DSWD’s list of poor households particularly on the health component will be an effective reference to their school researches.

Moreover, MOA on Data Sharing protects the confidentiality of the database and ensure that data are used only for its intended purposes. This is in consonance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012, which is intended to protect the integrity and security of personal data in both the private and public sectors, according to Naviamos.

Stipulated further in the agreement is that the data user must integrate Listahanan in all its social marketing activities – highlighting the use of the targeting system in identifying beneficiaries of local social protection programs.

“We are very positive with this partnership. We are looking forward to a stronger relationship between DSWD and our university to help our clients in a better way,” Dr. Gaac concluded. RSU has nine campuses in Romblon province and is expected to prepare a feedback report on data utilization as part of this agreement.

To date, three State Universities and Colleges (SUC) have signed a MOA with DSWD, Palawan State University, Palawan Polytechnic College Inc., and RSU. ###