Executive Secretary Ralph Recto called for safeguarding Filipinos from manipulation that targets trust and democracy during a speech marking the anniversaries of the National Security Council and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.
Recto spoke on Tuesday at the joint celebration of the founding anniversaries of the National Security Council and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency. He said the battlefield has widened and the next test may begin with a false story designed to make Filipinos distrust one another.
“In the information space, security means protecting the Filipino mind from manipulation. A lie repeated a thousand times should not be allowed to defeat a truth spoken once,” Recto said. He added that it becomes an attack on trust, on institutions and on democracy itself.
Recto noted that the front line now covers servers, classrooms and communities. He said security challenges include those over the West Philippine Sea, cyberspace and artificial intelligence. The country will mark the 10th anniversary of the arbitral ruling on July 12.
Despite emerging challenges, Recto said security must never be used as an excuse to weaken freedom. “Our duty is not to choose between a safe nation and a free nation. Our duty is to build a nation strong enough to be both,” he said.
