DAVOS, Switzerland — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said his administration has intensified its efforts to establish cybersecurity infrastructure amid its quest to digitalize the bureaucracy.
Marcos said this during the open forum at the World Economic Forum (WEF) here, an event he said he was excited to participate in since it would allow him to expand and expound on the country's initiatives.
In response to a question, the President touted the government's digitalization initiative and improvements in bureaucratic efficiency.
"Security has become a huge issue. That's what we are trying to design now, a cybersecurity system for this sensitive information," he said.
Recognizing the country's slow internet connectivity, Marcos said the government needs to do better in connecting millions of Filipinos and revving up initiatives to advance the digital economy.
"The connectivity in the Philippines is still pretty low. It's unfortunate because, in some of the studies we've made, the general consumer talks to every facet of their lives through the internet, except for government," he pointed out.
Because of this, the President said local governments had stepped in to ensure internet connectivity infrastructures are in place to reach Filipinos in the regions. He added that the Philippines welcomes assistance in helping the government in this endeavor.
"So, local governments, and some agencies within the national government, would really take on the initiative and started their own systems so as to be able to communicate. So this has now got to be consolidated and put together," he said.
"And that's where we are right now: forming the databases for government, forming the databases that can be used by the national ID, establishing it now," he added.
President Marcos has ordered to speed up the digitalization of the National Identification (ID) system that could be used for public and private transactions.
Under the Marcos administration, the government has activated thousands of previously offline areas under the Broadband ng Masa (BBM) and Free Wi-Fi for All programs of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).