Gatchalian expects better regional collab vs cybercrime, critical infrastructure dev't at APPF
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday, November 23 said he expects strengthened cooperation among Asia Pacific economies for the development of critical infrastructures in the face of global risks such as cyberattacks, natural disasters, and other disruptive events during the 31st annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF).
Gatchalian, head of the working group on economic and trade matters in the ongoing APPF event at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City said legislators in the Asia Pacific Region will hold a plenary session focused on rethinking critical infrastructure which is considered one of the top five risks facing the world today.
Critical infrastructure refers to the physical and cyber assets, systems, and networks that are essential for the functioning of societies and economies.
“I am confident that APPF will enhance cooperation in the Asia Pacific region as it provides the platform for legislators to discuss relevant issues and share experiences related to the development, protection, and strengthening of critical infrastructure,” Gatchalian said.
“Because there is recognition of the necessity to protect and strengthen critical infrastructure in our respective countries, the forum will enable us to share not just policy considerations but also best practices that would help individual economies address their own sets of challenges in the areas of cybersecurity and disaster preparedness,” the senator added.
Gatchalian earlier urged the government to strengthen the country’s cybersecurity capabilities of key agencies after mulitple cyberattacks hit certain government institutions like the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. or PhilHealth, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), and the House of Representatives (HOR) last October.
In filing Senate Bill No. 2066, or the proposed Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Act, the lawmaker wants all covered critical information institutions (CII) to adopt and implement adequate measures to protect their information and communications technology (ICT) systems and infrastructures and respond to and recover from any information security incident.
The bill also require organizations to have their own cybersecurity officers and develop cybersecurity plans.
The senator has also filed Senate Bill No. 939 which seeks to expand the application of the local disaster risk reduction and management (LDRRM) fund to help fund infrastructure projects designed to mitigate the effects of natural disasters, payment for obligations incurred in funding projects related to disaster preparedness and mitigation, and in hiring the necessary personnel required to implement disaster risk reduction programs.