Short answer. Yes. Officers or social workers of the DSWD, and social workers of local government units, are both listed among the people who may petition for a protection order. Because the applicant is not the offended party, the application must carry an affidavit on the abuse and on your consent to the filing.
What the law says
(d) officers or social workers of the DSWD or social workers of local government units (LGUs)
RA 9262, Section 9 — Who May File. Read the full provision →
What the law says
If the applicants is not the victim, the application must be accompanied by an affidavit of the applicant attesting to (a) the circumstances of the abuse suffered by the victim and (b) the circumstances of consent given by the victim for the filling of the application.
RA 9262, Section 11 — How To Apply. Read the full provision →
Two offices, and the national one is described more broadly
The clause reaches further at the national level than the local one. For the DSWD it names officers or social workers, so the category is not confined to people carrying a social worker's designation; for local government units it names social workers specifically, which in practice points to the city or municipal social welfare office. Either is enough on its own. Nothing in the section requires you to have an open case with either office first, and nothing requires the two to agree before one of them acts.
The affidavit that goes with an application you did not sign
Because a social worker is not the offended party, the application has to be accompanied by that worker's affidavit, and it must attest to two separate things: the circumstances of the abuse suffered, and the circumstances in which you consented to the filing. This is why an intake interview will go over both. It also means the decision stays yours — the office cannot supply the consent element out of its own assessment, however serious it judges the situation to be.
It does not displace your own standing
The categories in the section are alternatives, not a queue. A social worker applying does not remove your own right to apply, and your having applied does not stop the office from acting. Support services from the DSWD and from local government units are listed separately among a victim's rights under the Act, alongside the right to legal assistance from the Public Attorney's Office and the right to be told what services are available. Those entitlements do not depend on a petition having been filed at all.
Raise your address at intake
The Act deals expressly with the case where saying where you live is the danger. Where disclosure of the victim's address would pose a danger to her life, that must be stated in the application; the applicant then attests that you reside in the city or municipality over which the court has territorial jurisdiction and supplies a mailing address for service instead. Records of these cases are confidential besides. If your address is the thing you are worried about, say so before the form is filled in, not after.
Related provisions
- RA 9262, Section 10 — Where To Apply
- RA 9262, Section 35 — Rights Of Victims
- RA 9262, Section 44 — Confidentiality