PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) are exploring opportunities to collaborate with the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) on protecting children online and in the physical world.  

“We acknowledge the role of technology in helping create a child-friendly and child-sensitive society where children enjoy their rights. We believe that by building strong partnerships with private companies, we can craft more meaningful programs that protect children so they can maximize their potential and contribute to nation building,” said Undersecretary Angelo Tapales, CWC Executive Director.  

PLDT and Smart’s Cyber Security Operations Group (CSOG) presented the various innovative technologies that the PLDT group has employed to curtail online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC).   

(L-R)Smart VP and Head of Regulatory Affairs Atty. Roy D. Ibay, PLDT and Smart AVP and Head of Stakeholder Management Stephanie Orlino, PLDT and Smart FVP and Group Head of Corporate Communications, PLDT and Smart FVP and Chief Information Security Officer Angel Redoble 

Angel Redoble, FVP and the group’s Chief Information Security Officer, particularly highlighted PLDT and Smart’s capability to prevent customers from accessing child sexual abuse and exploitation materials (CSAEM) online, “PLDT and Smart have found a way to block CSAEM on the more difficult content level. Our massive threat database has allowed us to prevent more than 17 billion attempts to access these offensive materials in 2022.”   

PLDT and Smart’s pioneering Child Protection Platform benefits from the group’s membership to the UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and Project Arachnid of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P). PLDT and Smart’s CSOG regularly receives CSAEM hashtags that it automatically blocks on the group’s network. PLDT and Smart also employ open-source threat intelligence gathering, purchase available commercial threat intelligence, and rely on law enforcement agencies to share the links of child abuse materials that have been posted on the internet.   

(L-R)CWC Executive Director Undersecretary Angelo Tapales, CWC Project Development Officer IV Atty. Jose Mari Lopez, Planning Director II John Paul Ordovez listen as PLDT, Smart explain their pioneering Child Protection Platform

PLDT and Smart’s efforts to collaborate with government agencies and like-minded organizations to protect children are part of a broader effort to elevate the Filipinos’ experience by keeping them safe from cyber-attacks.    

This customer-centric ideology highlights the group’s commitment to the United Nations SDG No. 16 that promotes just, peaceful and inclusive societies including the end to abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.