Davao Light and Power Company

To further enhance its employees’ awareness on data privacy, Davao Light and Power Co., Inc. (Davao Light), an AboitizPower subsidiary, invited the Chief of the Compliance and Monitoring Division of the National Privacy Commission (NPC), Atty. Rainier Anthony N. Millanes to talk about the Data Privacy Act of 2012, or “An Act Protecting Individual Personal Information in Information and Communications Systems in the Government and the Private Sector, Creating for this Purpose a National Privacy Commission, and For Other Purposes.”

Atty. Millanes emphasized the different ways the utility company can protect its employees’ and customers’ data through proper governance, risk assessment, and compliance with the requirements of the NPC. Team members from the Customer Services Group, Admin, and Legal departments attended the talk on October 9, 2023, at the Davao Light Admin Office at C. Bangoy Sr. Street.

According to Atty. Millanes, the most common causes of data breaches are weak passwords and phishing e-mails. For passwords, he mentioned that most people use their birthdays, names, and common words found in the dictionary, which hackers can easily access through individuals' personal social media accounts. He suggests using up to a 13-character password with a mix of symbols and numeric and alphabetical characters to ensure the unpredictability of the password. 

Additionally, the speaker illustrated how phishing attacks are getting more sophisticated, thereby making them indistinguishable from legitimate e-mail accounts. He advises the employees to be careful with clicking links and downloading attachments if the e-mail address is not verified by the organization. 

Overall, the main purpose of the event is to strengthen the awareness of Davao Light employees regarding Data Privacy and ultimately ensure that the data of the company are protected from any breach, as mandated by the Data Privacy Act of 2012. Currently, Davao Light is registered with NPC and is compliant with the registration requirements to prevent these data breach incidents. 

Additionally, Davao Light constantly educates its employees with cybersecurity modules and empowers them to report phishing attacks through e-mail along with other activities aimed at strengthening its culture on privacy. These help enhance the organizational, physical, and technical security measures of the company.

“It is important that we refresh our knowledge of data privacy to update ourselves on how we can protect our data better,” Rodger Velasco, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Davao Light said in his closing remarks.

Davao Light guarantees the reliability of services, with safety as a priority, by protecting not just the hardware but also the software assets of the company.