Philippine lawmakers propose National Cybersecurity Council

Lawmakers in the Philippines are advancing several bills to establish a National Cybersecurity Council as a permanent inter-agency body. The proposed council would handle policy-making, coordination, and monitoring of cybersecurity, cyber-terrorism, and protection of critical information infrastructure.

Background and legislative measures The measures include Senate Bills 1492, 1891, 1946, and 2085, along with House Bills 7927, 8071, 8096, 8482, and 12 other similar House bills. House Bill 8096 states that the Philippines has ranked among the most targeted countries in Southeast Asia for cyberattacks including phishing, ransomware, data breaches, and distributed denial-of-service attacks.

The bill notes that repeated attacks on government databases have exposed sensitive personal data and highlighted the country's fragmented cybersecurity approach.

Structure and responsibilities The National Cybersecurity Plan 2023-2028, formulated by the Department of Information and Communications Technology, provides the technical and strategic framework for the proposed council. Several bills seek to convert the existing National Cybersecurity Inter-Agency Committee, created by Executive Order No.

95 series of 2019, into a legislated permanent body attached to the Office of the President. The council would include Cabinet-level officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Justice, Department of National Defense, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Energy, Department of Interior and Local Government, and Department of Transportation, plus the governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and heads of the National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine National Police.

The council would formulate and oversee a unified National Cybersecurity Plan, assess national vulnerabilities, and oversee the National Computer Emergency Response Team and National Security Operations Center. It would also maintain a National Cybersecurity Threat Database, issue security protocols for government employees, and coordinate international cybersecurity efforts.