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MANILA, Philippines — From the moment the ballroom doors opened on June 30, Manila Marriott Hotel came alive with an unmistakable sense of momentum.
Within hours, the venue had filled to near capacity as senior industry leaders, technology innovators and decision-makers gathered to shape the future of cybersecurity.
By 8 a.m., meaningful conversations were already underway, with innovation emerging as the defining theme that echoed through every discussion, meeting and exchange.
Standing true to its global reputation, leading events company Tradepass brought together over 1,000 CISOs, regulators, policymakers, technology leaders, cybercrime investigators and many more influential profiles to the sixth edition of its flagship cybersecurity summit—PhilSec.
The summit was strongly supported by national institutions including:
- Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)
- Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC)
- Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG)
- Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
- Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)
Held from June 30 to July 1, the two-day summit offered a powerful glimpse into the Philippines' rapidly expanding cybersecurity market, projected to exceed $682 million by 2032.
Following custom, PhilSec 2026 commenced with an inauguration ceremony officiated by several esteemed leaders representing key pillars of the Philippines’ cybersecurity landscape:
- Undersecretary Rodil Aniban, Officer-in-Charge, Undersecretary for Cybersecurity, DICT
- Cmdre. Roderick Denila, Commander, Cyber Command, PCG
- Paulo Ullado, Director III, Office of the Deputy Executive Director (ODED), Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC)
- PMGen Wilson Asueta, the Director of PNP-ACG
Aniban, who also served as the VIP Chief Guest, shared: “PhilSec is the place for all cybersecurity experts, CISOs, government leaders and policy makers to gather and get out of their silos to exchange ideas, and share what needs to be executed. With events like PhilSec, the National Cybersecurity Plan 2023–2028 can be effectively communicated to the private sector and government agencies.”
DICT Secretary Henry Aguda, also serving as one of the VIP Chief Guests, contributed a special video keynote message, sharing valuable insights that set the tone for the event right after the inauguration.
The conference sessions adhered to a carefully curated agenda to bring out the most pressing cybersecurity topics. Across panels and keynotes, discussions ranged from national policy implementation to frontline incident response, zero-trust architecture, identity fraud and AI-native software supply chains. Of the many speakers who led the insightful sessions, the most prominent were:
- George Tardio, Officer in Charge, Director – Cybersecurity Bureau, DICT
- Edmund Goh, Head - Asia & South Pacific Cybercrime Operations Desk, INTERPOL
- Michael Peter Alejandro, Undersecretary, Department of Finance
- Maricris Salud, Deputy Director and Head – Cybersecurity Supervision and Oversight Group at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
PMGen Atty. Wilson Casil Asueta, who held a session on cybercrime prevention, said: “PhilSec is our partner and we promote cybersecurity platforms and solutions side by side with our cybercrime prevention and cyber safety program,” when asked about the PNP’s approach to combating cybercrime. “So, PhilSec is a very important platform that helps us to fight against cybercriminals.”
Over the course of two days, attendees kept hurrying to the exhibition floor where global vendors—CrowdStrike, ManageEngine, Globe Business, Orca Security, GitLab, Snyk, Sophos, Energy Logserver, Tenable, Splunk, SANS Institute, Netron, NinjaOne, S2W, NPCore, Aikido Security, SecHard, Radware, Hexnode, Ocean Tide, PowerDMARC, and CSC—lined what seemed like endless rows of booths.
Product demos and impromptu discussions permeated the networking hours as delegates exchanged contacts, business cards and evaluated collaboration opportunities with solution providers.
The 2026 edition concluded with the highly anticipated PhilSec Awards that applauded the best from the industry.
Judged over multiple rounds of evaluation by a jury comprising esteemed representatives from the Cybersecurity Society of the Philippines, the Philippine Computer Society, the Cyber Security Alliance Philippines and other leading industry bodies, the Awards recognised outstanding contributions across seven categories.
Honors were conferred upon dignitaries whose work continues to strengthen the country’s cyber resilience through leadership in information security, governance, risk and compliance and other critical disciplines.
With two years remaining in the current National Cybersecurity Plan, the DICT, PNP, AFP, Philippine Coast Guard and CICC came together at PhilSec to deliver a unified message: the nation's cyber resilience will be advanced through unwavering collaboration and a shared commitment to seeing the strategy through.
For more information about the event, log on to https://www.philsecsummit.com.
Editor's Note: Philstar.com is a media partner to the PhilSec summit.
