NPC: TELCOs and ISPs DPA Compliance Crucial to Data Protection and Privacy

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Telecommunications companies and Internet Service Providers (ISP) are critical industry segments that need to comply with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA). This was revealed during the first general assembly of Data Protection Officers (DPO) in the telecommunications and value added service (VAS) provider industry sector. The event entitled DPO3 is the third of a series of industry sector targeted DPO general assemblies. The first two were for government, and the banking and financial services sector.

Privacy Commissioner Raymund Enriquez Liboro mentioned that majority of data that traverse telco and internet providers’ networks is personal data; data that has to be protected under the DPA by entities in the business of transporting that data, like telcos and ISPs.

“Personal data is not limited to email and voice communications, most users are not aware that before a conversation can happen over telecommunications networks, they have to provide their personal data; starting with their phone numbers, then the IMSI number of their SIM cards, the IMEI number and the MAC address of their device; networks also geo-tag users’ location based on the which cell site or street cabinet they used. That is just a voice conversation, subscriber activity within telco and ISP networks generate volumes of personal data as well.” commissioner Liboro said.

DPO3 was organized by the NPC in cooperation with the Philippine Chamber of Telecommunication Operators (PCTO). According to Atty. Roy Ibay, Vice President of PCTO; “After government, telcos are the largest processors of personal data, and as such; we need to be the vanguards of data protection and privacy, it should not be treated as a burdensome compliance task, but instead, should be inherent in our operations and adds value to our organizations, ensuring competitiveness in a dynamic industry.”

DOE Hosts Dialogue on Asia Energy Issues

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Energy (DOE) plays host to the three-day Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) that will tackle energy security, sustainability and resiliency starting Monday, August 7, in the island of Panglao in Bohol.

On the first day of the ACD, delegates will have four sessions. The first session is on renewable energy (RE) for a cleaner future covering RE efforts in China and Malaysia. China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute Director Xu Yifan, and Adjunct Professor and Nusantra Technologies Executive Chairman Dato Mohamed Razali Dato Yusoff will be the speakers.

The second session will discuss natural gas as a transition fuel and the best practices and challenges of natural gas infrastructure development. Institute of Energy and Economics Senior Economist and Manager Yoshikazu Kobayashi will provide Japan’s experiences and initiatives in their domestic natural gas sector and a regional situationer on the said resource.

Session three is on mainstreaming energy efficiency focusing on the conceptualization and development of a Low Carbon Model Town, an initiative following the 9th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Energy Ministers Meeting held in Fukui, Japan in 2010. Preliminary researches were done in six phases covering the cities in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, U.S.A., Peru, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Korea, Russia and Japan.

The fourth session is on the renewed role of nuclear energy with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Dohee Hahn talking about the regional and global status and prospects of nuclear power and the role of nuclear energy in greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Currently, there are 446 nuclear reactors in operation spread in 30 countries, including 61 under construction in 15 countries. Approximately 2/3 of the reactors are located in Asia with two new ones in Belarus and the United Arab Emirates.

On the second day of ACD on Tuesday, there are three sessions. Session 5 is on Energy Access and Connectivity with Energy Economist from Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Dr. Yanfei Li, tackling initiatives that aim to improve energy safety, optimize the distribution of energy resources, integrate regional energy markets and push forward the green and low carbon development of regional energy. In the same session, Thailand’s Energy Policy and Planning Office-Energy Strategy Management Unit Director Tanongsak Wongla will talk about the challenges of cross-border energy connectivity, especially in relation to growing domestic demand.

Session 6 is on promoting energy resilience with Philippine DOE Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella sharing the Philippine experience in developing the country’s energy resiliency policies and programs, such as the E-Power Mo!, to ensure resilient energy systems and facilities as well as an empowered consumers.

In the same session, Dr. James VanCoevering of B-LEADERS will touch on the development of climate resilient distribution construction approaches. Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) Vice President and Head Energy Management Engr. Rolando M. Cagampan will talk about their efforts towards supply versus demand and disaster resilience. And lastly, SN Aboitiz Power Group President and CEO Joseph S. Yu will zero in on the issues beyond power, the food-water-energy nexus.

Session 7 is on the role of the future generation on sustainable energy. The Liter of Light will hold an orientation and solar build workshop. A total of 34 grades five and six students from Lourdes Elementary School in Panglao Island, and 12 teachers from various schools in Bohol will teach ACD delegates how to assemble a solar powered lamp, a project of the DOE in partnership with the Department of Education, Provincial Government of Bohol, MERALCO and Liter of Light Org.

On the third day of the ACD, August 9, there will be a working group meeting to discuss the approaches and strategies to move forward the ACD Energy Action Plan. After the group meeting, there will be an Economic Research Institute Network (ERIN) meeting and the holding of the 1st East Asia Energy Forum, which will focus on energy issues of sub-regions East Asia and ASEAN and the role of fossil fuels in addressing global energy supply requirements.

The purpose of holding the event in Bohol is to give the ACD delegates a better presentation of the energy issues that is anchored on the rich culture and experience of the Philippines and the resilience of the Filipinos.

Discomfort Room Exhibit at District Gallery is Now Open

Wazzup Pilipinas!

More often than not, mental health illnesses are trivialized – to the point that it is apathetically dismissed and ignored as a mere attempt to bring an afflicted individual back on an emotional level that is more acceptable and manageable for the common man. Mental illnesses are frowned upon with a stigma which is harmful to an afflicted individual.

Discomfort Room is an experimental group show attempting to engage that stigma. It is an experiential acceptance; that these problems exist within our material plane of existence, manifesting in our daily lives like broken furniture inside our own homes. The room recreates the space inside our heads, decorated with the pains and illnesses depicted in different types of media. It communicates the ephemeral struggle against a constant burden in an individual’s daily life; and yet it is a safe-space, where the disturbed can realize that they are not alone in their fight.

As art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable, the room is set to comfort or discomfort the occupants.

Either way, welcome home.