QUEZON CITY — As Southeast Asia’s defense establishments confront a rapidly evolving landscape of cyber threats and information warfare, the Philippines is stepping into a central regional role, preparing to host key ASEAN cybersecurity engagements that officials say will shape cooperation among the region’s militaries for years to come.
On Feb. 24, the Department of National Defense convened a series of high-level meetings at Camp Aguinaldo with a visiting delegation from the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Cybersecurity and Information Centre of Excellence, or ACICE, in preparation for the bloc’s 5th ACICE Advisory Board Meeting scheduled for April in Panglao, Bohol. The Philippines will host the gathering as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2026.
The Philippine side was led by Atty. Odessa Rossilyz L. Magisa, officer in charge of the DND Office for Information Security. The visiting delegation was headed by Brig. Gen. Ng Pak Shun of Singapore’s Ministry of Defence, Singapore’s representative to the ACICE Advisory Board, accompanied by Ms. Yeo Seow Peng, ACICE’s executive director.
Officials described the visit as both logistical preparation and strategic consultation — aligning agenda priorities, reviewing proposed initiatives and deepening bilateral and multilateral cooperation in cyber defense and information security. The Panglao meetings will include not only the advisory board session but also the 4th ASEAN Cybersecurity Roundtable, a broader forum on digital transformation and defense resilience.
For the Philippines, hosting the engagements reflects a widening understanding that national defense now extends far beyond conventional military domains. Cyber intrusions, disinformation campaigns and attacks on digital infrastructure increasingly intersect with traditional security challenges in Southeast Asia, where geopolitical competition and technological change are accelerating simultaneously.
“The cyber and information domains have become integral to national defense planning,” a senior Philippine defense official involved in the preparations said. “Regional cooperation is essential because these threats are transnational by nature and cannot be addressed by any one country alone.”
During the Camp Aguinaldo sessions, ACICE delegates met with multiple Philippine defense and military leaders overseeing technology, cyber operations and strategic communications. Assistant Secretary for Defense Technology Research and Industry Development Augusto V. Gaite discussed national initiatives to strengthen cybersecurity capabilities and highlighted the importance of collaboration with ASEAN partners and the private sector.
Separate meetings were held with Lt. Gen. Arvin R. Lagamon, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Civil-Military Operations Command, focusing on countering threats in the cyber and information domains through expanded information-sharing and capacity-building programs. Officials emphasized that influence operations and digital disinformation campaigns increasingly affect military missions and public trust in defense institutions.
The delegation also met with Brig. Gen. Joey T. Fontiveros of the AFP Cyber Command, who presented the Philippine military’s efforts to train cyber specialists, enhance network resilience and integrate advanced technologies into defense operations. Philippine planners view the development of a skilled cyber workforce as a cornerstone of national security, particularly as military systems become more networked and data-driven.
In discussions with DND Assistant Secretary for Defense Communications Arsenio R. Andolong, both sides explored cooperation on what officials termed “cognitive resilience” — the ability of defense institutions and societies to withstand information manipulation, propaganda and psychological operations in digital spaces. ASEAN defense organizations, they agreed, must develop policy and operational tools to address challenges in the evolving information environment.
The ACICE delegation also visited the National Defense College of the Philippines, where President Christine June P. Cariño outlined the institution’s research agenda on cybersecurity policy, strategic communications and emerging technologies. Planned conferences and academic programs aim to foster regional dialogue and support policymaking at the strategic level, officials said.
The February engagements were part of ongoing preparations for the Panglao meetings, where ASEAN defense representatives will assess ACICE’s progress since its establishment, gather feedback from member states and identify new areas of cooperation. Topics expected to be reviewed include joint cyber defense exercises, secure communication frameworks for multinational operations and mechanisms for rapid information exchange during cross-border cyber incidents.
The parallel ASEAN Cybersecurity Roundtable will examine how militaries can pursue digital transformation while managing vulnerabilities associated with new technologies. Discussions will address the military’s role in protecting national information systems, building trust among member states and strengthening multilateral collaboration on cyber policy and operations.
Singapore, which hosts ACICE, has long been regarded as one of Southeast Asia’s most advanced cyber defense actors. Philippine officials said the visit underscored ASEAN’s cooperative approach, in which expertise developed by one member can be shared across the region to raise collective resilience.
“The goal is practical cooperation,” a Philippine official said. “Shared training, shared standards and shared situational awareness reduce the risk that any one country becomes a weak link in regional cybersecurity.”
For the Philippines, chairing ASEAN in 2026 offers an opportunity to shape the bloc’s defense agenda at a time when cyber threats are intensifying. Government agencies and critical infrastructure across Southeast Asia have faced increasing cyber incidents in recent years, many linked to state-aligned actors or transnational criminal networks.
Defense planners warn that cyber operations now accompany geopolitical tensions, economic competition and gray-zone activities, making digital resilience a strategic imperative. Military networks are intertwined with civilian infrastructure, and attacks on one can cascade into the other, affecting communications, logistics and national stability.
By convening the ACICE Advisory Board and ASEAN Cybersecurity Roundtable, Manila aims to reinforce ASEAN-led mechanisms for cooperation in a domain where regional coordination remains relatively new. While ASEAN has decades of experience in maritime security and humanitarian coordination, cyber defense cooperation is still evolving from dialogue toward operational collaboration.
Analysts say hosting the engagements allows the Philippines to demonstrate leadership in this emerging field while strengthening its own capabilities through exposure to regional expertise and partnerships.
Preparations are underway for the April meetings in Panglao, where delegations from across Southeast Asia are expected to gather. Known primarily as a tourism destination, the island will serve briefly as a hub of regional cyber diplomacy — reflecting how security priorities in Southeast Asia are expanding into the digital realm.
Philippine officials said the February meetings reaffirmed both sides’ commitment to practical cooperation in cyber policy and operations and underscored Manila’s support for ASEAN frameworks promoting a secure and resilient regional cyber environment.
As ASEAN chair, the Philippines is seeking to ensure that cooperation in cyberspace keeps pace with technological change and strategic competition. In doing so, officials say, Southeast Asia is working to build a collective digital defense posture — one that recognizes that future security challenges will unfold as much in networks and information systems as on land, sea or air. ©️KuryenteNews