Following an increase in cybercrime-related cases in the country, President Marcos instructed the Philippine National Police to ramp up its cybersecurity efforts.
Speaking during the PNP’s first command conference on Thursday, the President expressed alarm at the 53.34 percent jump in cybercrime cases from 13,890 in 2022 to 21,300 in 2023, highlighting the need for improved prevention, detection, and investigation methods.
“We have to build our cybercrime unit from scratch. Now, we need experts to do this. Filipinos are really good at IT (information technology) – we seem to have a talent for it,” the President said.
PNP data showed that from July 2022 to January 2024, online scams accounted for a whopping 15,937 cases, followed by illegal access (4,821 cases) and computer-related identity theft (2,384 cases).
The PNP, for its part, proposed the creation of a dedicated Cybersecurity Center that would be responsible for monitoring, detecting, protecting against, mitigating, and responding to cybersecurity threats and incidents within the PNP’s own ICT infrastructure.
Mr. Marcos also directed the PNP to bolster its communication system, especially in emergencies and crisis situations.
“We really need a plan to improve the PNP’s communications. You can’t do your job without being able to communicate. We have to be able to communicate with each other, especially in disaster response. We need to know what’s happening on the ground,” he said.
He also pointed out the alarmingly low fill-up rates across various categories in the PNP, even for basic equipment like digital and tactical radios.
As of Wednesday, the PNP said it only had 32.05 percent of its required digital radios, 33.98 percent of tactical radios, and a measly 2.48 percent of satellite phones.