President Marcos said that the country's power and internet services are continuously being upgraded in terms of capacity and connectivity as he noted that information technology (IT) capabilities should be at par with the Philippines' economic growth.

"I have directed the agencies concerned to ensure that the speed and quality of our IT development always mirror the pace and trajectory of our economic aspirations," he said in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 22.

With this, Marcos said that together with its private sector partners, the government will efficiently harness the concept of common towers to provide connectivity to Filipinos "at the far end of the last mile."

The President specifically highlighted the government's Free Wi-Fi Program which benefits almost 10 million unique user devices in over 13,000 areas across the country.

As part of his administration's internet infrastructure development, Marcos said Phase 1 of the National Fiber Backbone has been completed and operationalized.

Phases 2 and 3 have already begun early this year and shall be completed by 2026.

"This fiber backbone will give us sufficient capacity in terms of bandwidth," President Marcos said.

Meanwhile, Marcos said the government is beefing up its cyber defenses with the National Cybersecurity Plan which serves as the blueprint to safeguard the country's systems against cyberattacks.

"Bigger and faster IT infrastructures require stronger and more impervious cyber-defense," Marcos said.

"Expect full government support to ensure the successful completion of this critical project, including policy reforms and streamlined processes," he added.