Efforts to Secure Military Communications Ongoing: AFP

There are ongoing efforts and activities to secure all military communications against espionage, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff, Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr., said Wednesday.

“Alam mo lahat ng countries vulnerable dyan (All countries are vulnerable to that) and of course, we cannot just simply inform you about what we are, yung ating mga ginagawa (what we do), but of course our (intelligence) units (have) programs and activities to ensure the security of our communications,” Madrigal said in a media interview.

The AFP chief also assured the public that all security aspects on their co-location memorandum of agreement (MOA), signed on Wednesday with Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company (Mislatel), has been looked into.

“Sa lahat naman ng ginagawa natin (In everything that we do) of course, sabi nga, ang (as we said, the) Armed Forces, part of our role is being security conscious,” he added.

Under the MOA, the telecommunications firm will be allowed to build facilities in military camps and installations nationwide.

Madrigal said partnering with Mislatel is nothing new as similar MOAs have been entered with telco firms Smart and Globe.

Based on the agreement, the AFP will determine specific locations with its rental value for use of Mislatel in the installation and management of its communications sites without undermining the operations of affected AFP units.

Mislatel is also required to “furnish all equipment, labor, and materials necessary to effect the co-location of its facilities and shoulders all expenses in connection with or incidental to the co-location” and payment of all taxes, permits, licenses, and other charges.

The Mislatel consortium, which will adopt the name Dito Telecommunity, is composed of Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Udenna Corp, and China Telecom.

It was conferred with the status of ‘new major player’ in the telecommunications industry by the National Telecommunications Commission on November 19 last year. (PNA)