Lawmaker calls for speedy passage of cyber attack bills

MANILA, Philippines — In light of increased cyber attacks, a lawmaker called on his colleagues in the House of Representatives to hasten the approval of measures that will protect the country’s digital infrastructure and penalize hackers.

Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan said House Bill 8199 that he co-authored “provides the starting point” for the Department of Information and Communications Technology to “effectively implement” its National Cyber Security Plan or NCSP that was adopted by President Marcos through Executive Order 58 last week.

“This measure complements the NCSP and is a good jump-off point in accomplishing one of its primary objectives, which is to ensure convergence among all government agencies in protecting our country from cyber attacks,” Yamsuan said.

He also welcomed reports that Marcos, US President Joe Biden and Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will firm up plans to set up a joint cyber defense framework when they meet for a trilateral summit in Washington today.

Yamsuan, who represents the Bicol Saro party-list, said HB 8199 designates the National Computer Emergency Response Team as the government’s centralized reporting mechanism for information security incidents.

He added that while several government agencies already have some mechanism to boost their cybersecurity capabilities, a unified system of setting up minimum security standards, monitoring, detecting and mitigating threats needs to be established.