PH stepping up efforts to combat cyberattacks

Malacañang on Friday said the government is stepping up efforts to combat cyberattacks and eventually curb the spread of misinformation. 

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said the Philippines is strengthening its cybersecurity partnerships with countries like Canada and Japan amid evolving cyber threats.

“Ayon din sa kautusan ng Pangulo, kailangan talaga nating labanan itong mga cyberattacks na ito,” Castro said in a press briefing.

(As per the directive of the President, we really need to combat these cyberattacks.)

“Kailangan kasi medyo lumalala lalung-lalo na ang misinformation, nagagamit ito at nagiging biktima ang ating mga inosenteng kababayan,'' she added.

(This is necessary since the problem of misinformation remains rampant and this is being used to victimize innocent civilians.) 

The Department of National Defense (DND), led by Undersecretary Angelito De Leon, Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Undersecretary for Information Systems and Cybersecurity, met with Canada’s Senior Official for Cyber Security, Mr. Sami Khoury of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), on February 18 to strengthen collaboration in the cyber and information domains.

During the meeting, Undersecretary De Leon cited previous cyber engagements and expressed appreciation for Canada’s continued collaboration with the Philippines.

He further conveyed DND’s interest in learning from Canada’s best practices in cyber governance, operational coordination, and resilience-building mechanisms to enhance national cyber capabilities.

Their discussions also focused on key areas of convergence, including the regular exchange of strategic cyber threat landscapes, updates on evolving cyber threats, and institutionalizing joint training programs and professional exchanges.—LDF, GMA Integrated News