DND chief's proposal to establish cyber security working group gets okay from ADMM

From the Philippine News Agency (May 27): DND chief's proposal to establish cyber security working group gets okay from ADMM

The Department of National Defense (DND) has announced that the Philippine proposal to establish a cyber security working group in the ADMM-Plus was given the green light by the group.

Approval of this proposal took place last May 25 when the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM) took place in Vientiane, Laos.

By leveraging individual ASEAN-Plus capabilities, DND Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the working group will promote practical cooperation in addressing cyber security challenges.

The proposal was made by the DND chief during the ADMM Retreat in Malaysia last November. It was thoroughly processed within the ASEAN, culminating in the adoption of the concept paper.

The Philippines and New Zealand will co-chair the working group from 2017 to 2020.

Meanwhile, the Philippines forwarded another proposal which hopefully would once more be positively considered by the ADMM: the inclusion of coast guards and other maritime forces in the Code of Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) which currently covers only naval forces.

In a related development, the ministers agreed as indicated in their issued Joint Declaration that they will commence work on crafting protocols of interaction to avoid misunderstanding and prevent undesirable incidents in the West Philippine Sea.

The ministers also reiterated the importance of expeditiously working towards an early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

Gazmin thanked his fellow defense ministers for welcoming him into the ADMM process when he assumed his post as secretary of National Defense in 2010.

He requested his fellow defense ministers to extend the same warm welcome to the next DND chief.

Gazmin is confident that the same professional interaction and personal ties will likewise be developed with the next defense secretary.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=889365