Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Article (news)

cybersecurity

Jekki Pascual

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Various groups are calling for more aggressive measures to boost cyber defenses and protect telco infrastructure in the country. One of the proposals is to mobilize a volunteer corps similar to a military reserve program.The group Protect Technology- Telecom Alliance, or PROTECTA Pilipinas, organized a forum to discuss how the country can strengthen infrastructure security and cyber resilience amid growing concerns on scams, cybersecurity, and even cable theft and telco equipment vandalism.The group, which is spearheaded by telco giant PLDT, is in talks with various stakeholders including the government on how to create a framework or plan on this new initiative that could boost the country’s cyber defenses and internal telco network.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/5/28/deals-on-intelligent-cities-smart-life-systems-signed-during-marcos-state-visit-1234">Deals on intelligent cities, &#x27;smart life&#x27; systems signed during Marcos state visit </a></div>“We envision a volunteer corps, men and women across this country who are trained to recognize threats to critical infrastructure, who know how to report and respond and who to serve as the eyes, the early warning system and the resilience backbone of a nation that refuses to be caught unprepared,” PLDT Vice President for Regulatory Affairs Roy Ibay said.PROTECTA Pilipinas is studying how this volunteer corps can work.Former Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Gregorio Honasan was one of the speakers at the forum.He said there are many things to consider for this program — one of which is the urgency this has to be done, hence he wants the private sector to lobby this issue to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. himself.“Any presidential decree, administrative order, issuance from the most powerful, if not one of the most powerful presidencies among the remaining presidential democracies, would to me be more expedient because we are managing time,” Honasan said.The Armed Forces of the Philippines also joined the forum and said the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and the AFP Reserve Force can also help in case there are cybersecurity threats.“There are now units in the table of organization of the Philippine Army and even the Philippine Air Force called cyber units. So meron tayong ganoon. Finifill-up natin yun kasi bago ang units na yun. So we need those experts in cybersecurity, cyber warfare,” said Brig. Gen. Danilo Dupiag, assistant deputy chief of staff for reserve force development.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2026/2/19/cyberattacks-from-china-based-hackers-persist-afp-says-1806">Cyberattacks from China-based hackers persist, AFP says </a></div>Brig. Gen. Joey Fontiveros, commander of the AFP Cyber Command, also added that putting this new program into law can also be helpful as this can expand even with new administrations.He said it would also be better to include this in the school curriculum saying cyber defenses and cybersecurity measures must be taught at an early age.Carlo Oxales of Citizen Watch welcomed the discussion on pushing for cyber resilience, He said proposal for a volunteer corps is a good idea and it just needs to be discussed and reviewed properly.“Cybersecurity is now a shared national responsibility and building resilience will require not only technology, but also trust, also operation, a lot of understanding, a lot of political will, and a lot of investment in our people,” he said.

Various groups are calling for more aggressive measures to boost cyber defenses and protect telco infrastructure in the country.

Various groups are calling for more aggressive measures to boost cyber defenses and protect telco infrastructure in the country.

Groups call for volunteer corps vs telco, cyber threats

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Groups call for volunteer corps vs telco, cyber threats

Jekki Pascual,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 29, 2026 12:20 AM PHT

Read More:

Protecta Pilipinas

cybersecurity

cyber defenses

PLDT

telco infrastructure

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