MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III no longer needs to go to a restaurant to monitor future crisis situations now that a presidential situation room (PSR) is being completed to serve as a crisis management operations center.  
 
But National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia says the construction of the room is not in response to the botched handling of the Quirino Grandstand hostage crisis. The President had to rush to Emerald Restaurant then to monitor the crisis. The government says plans of building a situation room has been in the works way before the incident happened.
 
The room will supposedly allow better coordination among agencies responding to crisis situations.
 
Malacañang reporters were invited to see the facility Monday for a briefing of how future crisis situations will be managed. “It is the first and the last time we’re inviting you to this facility,” National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia said.
 
But television cameras were not allowed inside the Presidential Situation Room (PSR), an indication of how security is tight in the facility.
 
The room is located inside the Malacañang Park, the same vicinity where the headquarters of the Presidential Security Group and President Aquino’s living quarters, the Bahay Pangarap, are located.
 
Currently, the room remains spartan, still smelling of fresh paint. An entire wall is made of glass covered with one-way tint. On the other side is an audio booth. The room is colored white.
 
Garcia said the government is spending P5.5 million for the first phase of the construction of the room that will involve “establishing secure connectivity” among concerned agencies involved in a crisis response.
 
Among these agencies are the Department of Defense, Office of Civil Defense, Philippine National Police, NCRPO, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the presidential communications group.
 
Communications in the room will be “secure, untappable, and uninterrupted,” Garcia said.
 
The room will be equipped with teleconferencing capability in the phase two of the project.
 
Garcia said the old situation room has been dissolved in 2007 for reasons unknown to him. It was located inside the main complex of Malacañang, he said. 
 
The current situation room is located in the National Security Assessment Center inside Malacañang Park. According to Garcia, the center became “the traditional home” of Cabinet security meetings where conferences have been held since the Ramos administration.            
 
The room will be operated daily and will be ready to serve as a conference room with the President in attendance to monitor crisis situations. Garcia said these crises may include terrorist attacks, hostage incidents, massive civil disturbances, insurrection, military mutiny or coup attempts, and health pandemics.
 
Presidential Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang said the government will also include economic-related crisis situations like debt crisis, and oil and food shortages among the issues that could be discussed inside the room. 
 
The crisis manual is also being revised, expected to clearly spell out the roles of national and local executives in crisis situations. But Garcia said revising the manual will take time, saying there is a need to undergo “simulation exercises.”
 
The room was built following President Aquino’s Administrative Order 2 issued last September where the functions of the PSR were spelled out:
“a) Monitors events, situations and developments that have national security implications including those with serious diplomatic, political and peace and order ramifications;
“b) Provides current intelligence and crisis support to the President, the Executive Secretary, the National Security Adviser and the Secretary of the Presidential Management Staff;
“c) Serves as the primary monitoring, coordination and communications center in Malacañang on classified information;
“d) Coordinates the collection, verification and evaluation of highly sensitive information bearing on national security;
“e) Establishes linkages and coordinates with the various operations centers of civil and security agencies of government;
“f) Serves as the National Crisis Management Operations Center for various contingencies and crises.”