Government, telcos join hands to protect tech assets

MANILA, Philippines —  Government and telco executives have put up an umbrella group that seeks to protect technology assets from digital crimes and natural disasters that are causing the Philippines billions of pesos in losses.

The Philippine Chamber of Telecommunication Operators (PCTO) yesterday signed an alliance with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Council (CICC) to form Protecta Pilipinas.

Protecta Pilipinas will create a monitoring system for the health and performance of telco assets, hoping that through this, it can identify the risks and vulnerabilities in the country’s connectivity ecosystem.

PCTO vice president Roy Ibay told reporters the Philippines endures billions of pesos in losses every year from the damage caused by natural calamities. Further, telcos incur property losses as a consequence of what seems to be petty but costly crimes, such as cable cutting and copper theft.

“If I would estimate it, it would run in the billions of pesos. Damage alone on cyber (networks) reaches billions, plus the cost of cable theft and the damage from typhoons and earthquakes year in, year out,” Ibay said.

“It is difficult enough for us to roll out because of the archipelagic nature of the Philippines, and we are also burdened by these vulnerabilities,” he added.

On top of this, Protecta Pilipinas will establish a reporting mechanism for suspicious activities on telco infrastructure that authorities can use to respond on time.

Finally, the alliance will come up with proposals for the consideration of policymakers to tighten the legal framework on telco sabotage, theft and vandalism.

Telcos are hurting from the continuous practice of cable theft across the archipelago, especially in Metro Manila. Globe, for instance, recorded 1,472 cases of cable cutting in the first semester, tracing the bulk of the incidence at 906 to Mega Manila.

Criminals take off cable lines and copper wires owned by telcos to sell them as scrap. However, telcos warn that cable theft results in service disruption in communities, harming livelihoods that rely on the internet, such as e-commerce, education and entertainment.

Currently, telcos depend on Republic Act 10515, or the Anti-Cable Television and Cable Internet Tapping Act of 2013, to penalize perpetrators of cable cutting.

The law lists the removal of cable, internet and telephone facilities as a punishable act leading to up to five years of imprisonment or as much as P100,000 in fines, or worse, both.