In the Philippines, disasters may happen anytime. We are hit by typhoons multiple times a year, as well as earthquakes. Raising national awareness and preparedness on natural disasters, however, can reduce it disruptive damages and risks to loss of life. The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), prompted by its mission to strengthen the country’s resiliency against natural calamities, with industry-leading enabler of digital solution ePLDT to enchance its defence against cyberattacks and future-proof its business of saving lives.
The PDRF aims to play a role in different phases of disaster management such as response, recovery and rehabilitation. It is composed of over 80 private corporations and leading non-government organization (NGO) members and coordinates private sector solutions for disaster management.
When a magnitude 6.1 earthquake jolted Luzon on April 22, PDRF, through its member companies, was one of the first organizations to quickly respond to the emergency and rescue operations in Pampanga which sustained around P121.7 million worth of damage to its roads and infrastructure.
“We’re now leading the idea that the private sector has a role to play in terms of disaster management. Private organizations like ours can go ahead and volunteer using our resources and core expertise to respond and help rebuild places that have been hit by disasters,” PDRF President Butch Meily said.
In order to mitigate and quickly respond to different kinds of calamities in the country, PDRF needed monitoring tools that would allow them to identify hazards and risks prior to the impacts of incoming natural disasters. The organization recently built the world’s first national private sector-owned National Emergency Operations Center in Clark, Pampanga which is being utilized to monitor storms, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions across the Philippine archipelago.
With the critical information bits the Emergency Operations Center processes, it calls for robust security measures that will protect its mission-critical data from potential cyber threats and attacks.
To help PDRF remain prepared for both natural and cyber disasters alike, the organization penned a partnership with ePLDT for its Cyber Security solutions. ePLDT delivers best-in-class Cyber Security services and solutions that allow businesses to redefine their cyber defenses against a wide range of cyber threats. Through the partnership, ePLDT helped upgrade PDRF’s existing security technologies with its Managed Security Service that included the management and maintenance of the latter’s firewall.
PDRF also subscribed to ePLDT’s Security Operations Center-as-a-Service (SOCaaS), which gives the former a dedicated cybersecurity team that proactively monitors their network 24/7 and immediately responds in the event of a cyberattack. Through ePLDT’s SOCaaS, PDRF will be informed of any malicious activities in their systems within minutes they are discovered. PDRF will also receive monthly reports to ensure their awareness of cyber incidents within the organization.
Today, PDRF is equipped with the cyber security it needs to further build the nation’s resilience and help mitigate damages from future disasters. “We would not be able to operate at our top level without the assurance of having ePLDT there and providing cyber security. I feel much more secure now by having ePLDT as a partner, I’m very sure of that,” Meily concluded.
