Manila – The Institute for Labor Studies (ILS), through its Advocacy and Publications Office, hosted an orientation for its employees on the Data Privacy Act of 2012 via Zoom platform conducted last April 28.

The resource speaker for the said subject was Mr. Cleo Martinez, Information Officer II of the National Privacy Commission (NPC). He acknowledged that it was the very first online orientation he conducted on the subject matter and that they are now welcoming such a platform where they can still reach their public despite the COVID19 situation in the country.

Mr. Martinez was introduced by Advocacy and Publications Division Chief Mr. Reinerio A. Alba, who is also the Institute’s Data Privacy Officer.

The law protects personal information and the data subjects who own them, including its processing, exchange and handling. Under the law, personal information refers to any information whether recorded in a material form or not, from which the identity of an individual is apparent or can be reasonably and directly ascertained by the entity holding the information, or when put together with other information would directly and certainly identify an individual. In the Philippines, it is the NPC that administers and implements the provisions of the Act.

The discussion also flowed into privacy issues specially where COVID19 detection is concerned and where patients’ state of health can be divulged to the public.

Mr. Martinez explained that personally-identifiable data may also be disclosed to other government entities authorized based on DOH guidelines. In these instances, public health authorities, concerned health care providers, and other government entities who are custodians of patients’ personal data have the legal obligation to protect the data privacy rights of these patients and ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their personal data.