Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel lll said on Friday that he would file a resolution seeking a legislative inquiry into the alleged computer glitch that hit the financial system of the Bank of the Philippine Islands, causing inconvenience and panic among several bank clients.
Senator Chiz Escudero, chairman of the senate committee on banks, said he will hear the case once referred to his committee.
“At the proper time, I will hear it. I have zero backlog in my committee,” he added.
Pimentel said that the “internal data processing error” which the BPI admitted to have ruptured its data processing system which resulted in discrepancies in the bank account balances, debits for some and increases in the bank statements of other depositors.
Pimentel said the computer fiasco is a dangerous occurrence even as the BPI assured the public that the so-called internal data processing error was not a case of hacking as reported by social media users in their public accounts.
He said the proposed Senate inquiry will delve into the bank’s security protocols, adding the root cause of the data error must be fully explained by BPI to reassure the public that a similar incident would not occur again in the future.
Pimentel said local banks must be on the lookout for a possible cyber attack as hackers worldwide have already victimized a number of banking institutions despite safeguard measures to pre-empt the commission of the crime.