The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology have started work on consolidating multiple cybersecurity bills into a single measure aimed at strengthening the country’s legal framework against cyber threats.
During the second Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting at the Batasang Pambansa, lawmakers, government agencies, regulators, critical infrastructure operators, and private sector representatives discussed how to merge overlapping proposals into one comprehensive Cybersecurity Act.
The meeting was chaired by 1Tahanan party-list representative Nathaniel Oducado, with DICT represented by Julius Gorospe, special assistant to the secretary for cybersecurity.
According to participants, the consolidation seeks to clarify agency roles, reduce duplication of mandates, and establish a unified national cyber defense strategy.
One of the key proposals discussed is the elevation of DICT’s Cybersecurity Bureau into a National Cybersecurity Agency, which would serve as the central body for threat monitoring, incident response, and coordination across government and critical sectors.
The draft measure also includes provisions requiring the reporting of major cyber incidents, setting baseline security standards for critical information infrastructure, strengthening information-sharing among stakeholders, and formalizing vulnerability disclosure and national threat monitoring mechanisms.
Officials at the meeting noted the increase in cyber incidents affecting both public and private institutions, underscoring the need for clearer authority and faster coordination during cyberattacks.
The TWG is expected to draft a substitute bill for committee-level approval in the coming sessions, as Congress moves toward enacting a single, consolidated cybersecurity law.
