Press Release - Gatchalian sees robust regional collaboration for critical infrastructure development at APPF

Senator Win Gatchalian envisions strengthened cooperation among Asia Pacific economies for the development of critical infrastructures in the face of global risks such as cyberattacks, natural disasters, and other disruptive events.

The 31st annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) includes a plenary session focused on rethinking critical infrastructure, which is cited as one of the top five risks facing the world today. Critical infrastructure refers to the physical and cyber assets, systems, and networks that are essential for the functioning of societies and economies.

"I am confident that APPF will enhance cooperation in the Asia Pacific region as it provides the platform for legislators to discuss relevant issues and share experiences related to the development, protection, and strengthening of critical infrastructure," said Gatchalian, who heads the working group on economic and trade matters in the ongoing APPF event in the country.

"Because there is recognition of the necessity to protect and strengthen critical infrastructure in our respective countries, the forum will enable us to share not just policy considerations but also best practices that would help individual economies address their own sets of challenges in the areas of cybersecurity and disaster preparedness," Gatchalian stressed.

Recent cyberattacks perpetrated against certain government institutions have prompted Gatchalian to push for legislation designed to strengthen the cybersecurity capabilities of organizations in the country. Senate Bill 2066, or the Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Act, mandates all covered critical information institutions (CII) to adopt and implement adequate measures to protect their information and communications technology (ICT) systems and infrastructures and respond to and recover from any information security incident. Specifically, the proposed measure will require organizations to have their own cybersecurity officers and develop cybersecurity plans.

He has also filed Senate Bill 939 which seeks to expand the application of the local disaster risk reduction and management (LDRRM) fund. Specifically, the bill proposes the