Most of the reason why Philippine SMBs--much like the rest of the world--are laggards in disaster preparedness is their "it can't happen to me mentality," Tiotuyco said.

According to Symantec, a third of firms do not think computer systems are critical to their business; say disasters have never occurred to them; say disaster preparedness is not among their priorities; and that they lack skills or qualified personnel.

"The last thing SMBs should do is to try to figure out what to do [when they come face-to-face] with disaster," noted Raymond Goh, systems engineering and customer advisory services for south region, Symantec.

According to Goh, not having a plan puts SMBs at great risks--especially that almost 70% of them conduct offices at areas susceptible to natural disasters.