Gov’t told to adopt PPP-led infrastructure resilience plan after Uwan

MANILA, Philippines — An advocacy group has called on the national government to adopt a unified national framework that integrates power, transport, and telecommunications resilience through public-private partnerships (PPPs), following the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Uwan.

CitizenWatch Philippines proposed the renovation of power, telecommunications, and transportation infrastructure into an integrated network of protected underground conduits through PPPs.

READ: Typhoon Uwan affects over 4.4 million Filipinos – NDRRMC

“This is the moment to move from patchwork recovery to long-term resilience,” CitizenWatch lead convenor Orlando Oxales said in a recent statement.

“If we align our energy, transport, and digital infrastructure under one resilience agenda, we don’t just survive the next typhoon — we ensure that every community stays connected, every rescue can be made, and every Filipino can count on a nation that works even in crisis,” he added.

According to Oxales, the government should classify digital infrastructure as a “lifeline utility” and ensure that it aligns with global best practices. Doing so, he said, would mandate minimum power and communications backup standards, infrastructure co-location, and investments in mobile cell units for emergency deployment.

Oxales also encouraged the government to expand its PPP models for integrated resilience clusters — linking telecom towers, power substations, and logistics hubs through pre-cleared emergency transport corridors.

“These investments are lifesaving assets,” Oxales said.

“Every peso spent on resilience saves four pesos in recovery and avoids immeasurable human suffering,” he added.

The group cited Japan, Taiwan, and New Zealand as primary examples of countries that have implemented such measures to prevent paralyzing blackouts and communication breakdowns during disasters.

In Japan, after the magnitude 9.1 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011, telecom operators implemented cross-network resource pooling and backup power sharing, restoring emergency communication lines within hours.

Taiwan, on the other hand, built a multi-layered network linking terrestrial, undersea, and satellite systems nationwide to maintain connectivity even when submarine cables are cut during typhoons.

New Zealand, for its part, institutionalized joint planning between power utilities and telecom providers to reinforce undersea cables and establish joint repair corridors, thereby minimizing downtime.

“These countries show that resilience is not about rebuilding after every calamity — it’s about designing systems that never go completely dark,” Oxales said.

“When grid power and transport networks fail, the communications network becomes the bridge between life and recovery,” he added. /jpv