Among the nations of Southeast Asia, the Philippines is a rising star. According to World Bank, the country’s growth for this year is estimated to be 6.9 percent, same as last year and higher than neighboring countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. And the same bright prospects are forecasted for the cou
Among the nations of Southeast Asia, the Philippines is a rising star. According to World Bank, the country's growth for this year is estimated to be 6.9 percent, same as last year and higher than neighboring countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
And the same bright prospects are forecasted for the country's security industry as well. “Clearly we see macroeconomic situation is very positive. The industry is growing at about 9 percent. We'll only grow faster than the GDP, and we want to be a part of this growth trend,” said Harish Vellat, VP/GM for Asia Pacific at Honeywell Security and Fire.
Further, growth is expected for various segments under security. “I think that after the CCTV boom here in the Philippines, the next will be access control-based security solutions. I think by 2018 a lot of SMEs or corporations will be having advanced door access solutions,” said Ranil Reyes, Sales Supervisor at Internet of Things, a distributor of access control products.
A main driver for this security growth is the government's continued efforts to combat terrorist and criminal activities that are known to beset the country from time to time. In September 2016, 15 people were killed in Davao City in a deadly blast that police said was set off by a man tied to a terrorist group. Earlier in June this year, a man allegedly set fire to a casino, killing 36. The motive of the suspect is still unknown.
But then, the Philippines elected a president, Rodrigo Duterte, who has made clear his intention to crack down on crime. And the potential increase in budget is seen as an opportunity for security. “With the new president, we see there are more opportunities for us to grow. With the new president, we see more upcoming projects than before,” said Roy Calimlim, Account Manager at Visible, a systems integrator.
“I would say he is very much a law and order president, and he will probably be willing to allocate more money for security,” said James Savage, GM of HMR Solutions, another systems integrator.
Crime aside, infrastructure projects are another focus of the government. “There are key projects that are being implemented. The government spending right now is more on transportation, using video surveillance to monitor traffic, which is a major problem here,” said Elmer Palado, Assistant R&D Head at eSecure, also an SI company.
“Our country is having huge construction/infrastructure projects for metro in Manila. These are for airports, highways, railways and bus terminals. Integrated electronic security systems are definitely needed for these projects,” said Aris Abella, System and Project Sales Manager at Fairetech, a distributor of Hanhwa Techwin - Wisenet products.
“They awarded a lot of big projects especially on the transportation side. Once all the infrastructure is undergoing, security will follow,” said Matthew Ang, Product Manager at ISR, a distributor of Kedacom. “Now they awarded railway stations and highway expansions. There is a lot of public infrastructure when it comes to tollways, skyways, expressways and a lot of mass rail transit. It's just beginning construction and most of them will finish by 2019 to 2020.”