The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Cybercrime Division issued a subpoena to Manila Bulletin editor and information technology (IT) head Art Samaniego, Jr. on Tuesday afternoon.
This is in relation to the arrest of suspected hackers last week. One of them, known by his alias ‘Kang Kong’ claimed to have acted on the orders of Samaniego, which the latter denied.
The NBI served the summons to Samaniego at the Manila Bulletin office in Intramuros. The company’s Vice President for Reynaldo Rafal received the letter on his behalf.
Rafal confirmed to reporters that Samaniego has been suspended pending results of the publishing firm’s separate probe on the matter.
“Manila Bulletin is conducting its own internal investigation just to check on the veracity on the allegations against one of our employees,” Rafal said.
Samaniego vowed to cooperate and opted to refrain from discussing details about the case while the investigation is ongoing.
“Authorities are already investigating the case and I commit to fully cooperate to resolve this matter and clear my name as soon as possible,” he was quoted saying.
Samaniego earned a reputation as one of the trusted IT experts in the country, who was actively working with government agencies on matters pertaining to cybersecurity.
He was accused by one of the suspects, who was actually working for the administrative unit of Manila Bulletin—not IT department as earlier reported—to hack into various organizations’ websites, so the editor could write about it in his column for the paper. – With Rolando Ng III