National Defense Officer-in-Charge (DND-OIC) Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr.
(standing, right) witness the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between NGCP,
represented by President and CEO Anthony L. Almeda (seated, left), and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), represented by Director General Retired Police Lt. Gen. Ricardo F. De Leon (seated, right), at the Malacañan Palace.
Power transmission network operator NGCP reinforces its commitment to deliver reliable transmission services across the country by enhancing the safety and security of its transmission assets through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).
NGCP sealed its partnership with NICA in a signing ceremony at the Malacañan Palace on 13 March 2023 witnessed by no less than the President of the Philippines, His Excellency Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
Signing the MOU are NGCP President and CEO Mr. Anthony L. Almeda and NICA Director General Retired Police Lt. Gen. Ricardo F. De Leon.
Under the MOU, NICA commits to supply NGCP with intelligence information to support the protection of power transmission assets operated and maintained by NGCP across the country, while NGCP commits to provide technical assistance to NICA to support and further establish their cybersecurity capability.
“NGCP has dealt with sabotage and bombing incidents in the past years which affected not only the reliable delivery of power in the areas affected, but other incidents also resulted in the injury of transmission line personnel and military escorts patrolling the areas to conduct line clearing and maintenance activities. The Memorandum of Understanding that NGCP and NICA will be signing today will be a shared commitment to exchange intelligence and provide support to accomplish our respective mandates”, NGCP said.
In his speech, President Marcos highlighted the importance of the MOU in reinforcing the country’s security measures. “Since NGCP is a critical, critical part of our security, (…) now we have made more robust the defenses against any possible attacks on our power systems, on any other elements in our everyday lives that require power, and for that matter, that require the exchange of secure information amongst ourselves in society,” said Pres. Marcos.
“I thank the NGCP for taking the initiative here. There have been fears that the involvement of any foreign entity in our power transmission system would present a security threat to the Philippines. (…) This is a very good step towards answering that challenge,” the President added.
President Marcos also emphasized that, “It is but one step because we are continuing to do this not only with NGCP but we are developing our cybersystems so that we are secure and so that the data that we need to collect and to disseminate is available to us, and we are able to do and handle the data in a secure fashion without the risk of it being used somehow against the Philippines. Let this be an example to all the other sectors that could be assessed to be at risk when it comes to cybersecurity. It is a good signal to all of us who have concerns in this regard – that we are doing many things to make sure that the Philippines remains secure, that the Philippines remains in accordance with international law, that the Philippines and its people can rest assured that their territory, their data, their personal information will not be used against us, and that they can feel secure.”
The MOU signing was also witnessed by Department of National Defense Officer-in-Charge Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez, Jr., and representatives from the National Security Council and the Department of Energy. (PR)
