Pres. Rodrigo Duterte has appointed former Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) assistant secretary Ivin Ronald Alzona as the new executive director of the National Privacy Commission (NPC).
Alzona took his oath of office last April 8 before privacy commissioner Raymund Liboro. “You came at a very opportune time; you came at the time that the NPC is in its prime development stage,” Liboro said.
From handling management and operations of the DICT since 2018, Alzona takes on a new challenge in managing the continuing digital transformation in data privacy regulatory practice.
He joins a former colleague at the DICT, John Henry Naga, who was an assistant secretary and undersecretary at the ICT agency before transferring to the NPC as deputy commissioner.
As former DICT assistant secretary, Alzona plans to incorporate some practices from his former agency in future-proofing data privacy policies and standards given the ever-evolving ways of technology.
According to Alzona, he aims to “advocate for the convergence of policy and technology through the formulation of a data policy framework that recognizes enabling and convergent ICT technologies such as AI, Big Data, Blockchain and Internet of Things (IOT), ensuring that NPC’s responsive regulatory framework remains inclusive and dynamic.”
He also plans to “promote best practices in data protection among personal information controllers (PICs) and encourage them to heavily invest in their privacy programs as data breaches could prove even more costly or catastrophic in the long run.”
Prior to his appointment to NPC, Alzona served the DICT under various capacities — as assistant secretary for management and operations, OIC-undersecretary for regional operations and countryside and ICT industry development, assistant secretary for administration and assistant secretary for National Broadband Backbone and Free WiFi/Internet Access in Public Places.
Alzona obtained his law degree from San Beda University in Manila in 2010 and was subsequently admitted to the Philippine Bar the following year. He also holds a degree in business management and entrepreneurship with academic distinction from the same university.
