CAGAYAN de Oro City Hall will set up an organization that will ‘operationalize’ implementation of the local Data Privacy ordinance in the city, an administration official said today.
“We have to (adopt) a national law, that is Republic Act 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012, so that it will be operationalized here in Cagayan de Oro. That’s why the city government through the City Council is endorsing the enactment of an ordinance that will operationalize this law (in the city),” said Councilor Romeo Calizo, who chairs the 20th City Council’s committee on public order.
The Data Privacy Ordinance authored by Vice Mayor Jocelyn Rodriguez seeks to provide guidelines to regulate the processing of personal information in order to uphold a person’s right to privacy within Cagayan de Oro City.
Representatives of both the City Legal Office and the city office of the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) pushed for the speedy passage of the ordinance.
During the committee meeting, Calizo called for the creation of a council that will handle concerns on data privacy.
A DILG memorandum issued on March 19, 2018, called on local governments to appoint their data protection officers to ensure compliance with the Data Privacy Act. City Hall’s designated data protection officer is Atty. Raymond Villablanca.
When Calizo asked if a public hearing is needed for the implementing rules and regulations of the Data Privacy Ordinance, Councilor Jose Pepe Abbu Jr said it’s unnecessary since the ordinance is in compliance with RA 10173 which mandates local governments to enact their local ordinances on data privacy protection.
“What we’re discussing here is do we have to adapt the entirety of the proposed draft ordinance or tailor-fit it in accordance to the needs and concerns of our constituents,” said Abbu, a committee member.
Abbu said City Hall needs to balance enforcement of the ordinance with the Freedom of Information Act and the right of persons to protect their personal information.
“The challenge is to let the people understand what is data privacy and in the case of law enforcers in order to determine their limits since the right to privacy of citizens is well defined by the Constitution. So this ordinance will pose a challenge to our law enforcers,” Calizo said. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)
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