The National Privacy Commission (NPC) successfully held the 4th Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) online last 27-28 May 2021 with the theme “Valuing Privacy in the Time of Digital Transformation: Protecting Filipinos. Promoting Economic Recovery. Building Trust.” The annual national celebration aims to emphasize the role of data privacy and protection to harness opportunities in the fast-growing digital economy and to help the country build back stronger and inclusively. Institutionalized four (04) years ago, the PAW was created to promote data privacy as a tool for overall national development.
“An incentive for your companies is recognition for excellence for achieving a higher level of accountability. We want our companies to capitalize on this momentum by expanding their data-driven services to cross-border transactions. Thus, NPC is partnering with bilateral, regional, and international organizations for Global Data Transfer Mechanisms to ensure the free and secure flow of data from and into the Philippines,” Privacy Commissioner Raymund Liboro said in his speech at the opening of the Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) conference.
To conclude this year’s PAW celebration, the NPC has produced the PAW Awards to recognize outstanding privacy practices throughout different sectors. For the first time since the establishment of the NPC, data privacy leaders and advocates who have greatly contributed to the foundation of data privacy in the country were awarded by Commissioner Liboro himself.
Individuals and institutions joined the nominations through data privacy initiatives and showed compliance with the Data Privacy Act (DPA).
And the winners of the first-ever Privacy Awareness Week Awards 2021 are:
Exemplary Leadership for Privacy
- Damian Domingo Mapa (former NPC Deputy Commissioner)
- Ivy Patdu (former NPC Deputy Commissioner)
Privacy Leadership Recognition
- Leleen Lamorena-Bunyi (Cognizant)
- Gelalyn Boquiren (San Miguel Corporation)
- Maria Francesca Montes (UnionBank of the Philippines)
- Danny Cheng (De La Salle University)
Outstanding Personal Information Controller of 2021 – Private Sector
- San Miguel Corporation
Outstanding Personal Information Controller of 2021 – Public Sector
- Department of Health (DOH)
Privacy Advocate of 2021
- Henry Rhoel Aguda (UnionBank of the Philippines)
Data Protection Officer of 2021
- Gelalyn Boquiren (SMC Group of Companies)
Privacy Initiative of 2021
- Safe Space: A Kid’s Guide to Data Privacy (Globe Telecom)
The Mozilla Philippines Community (MozillaPH) was the only non-profit organization that was shortlisted as a finalist under the Privacy Initiative Award category of the Privacy Awareness Week Awards 2021.