MANILA (UPDATED) - Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso on Friday said hackers "attacked" Manila's vaccination registration website 133 times the night before thousands trooped to vaccination sites in the capital city.
Thousands flocked to SM San Lazaro in Manila and other vaccination sites on Thursday, a day before Metro Manila was placed under the strictest lockdown classification, amid rumors that unvaccinated individuals may be jailed while the capital region is under enhanced community quarantine.
"Maybe it's coincidence because the night before the chaotic situation in SM San Lazaro vaccination site, our website was attacked 133 times by hackers," Domagoso told ANC's Rundown.
Hackers tried to "overload the system" on August 4, around 8 to 10 p.m., Manila PIO chief Julius Leonen told reporters.
"Ang ginagawa nila, inooverload nila yung sa registration - at least 150 different IP addresses in a minute - para ma-clog ang registration and mag-down [ang website]," he said.
(What they did was they tried to overload the system - using at least 150 different IP addresses in a minute - so that the registration website will be clogged and will go down.)
All the attacks were traced within the Philippines, he said.
"One IP address pero libo-libo yung request. Isang barangay, isang WiFi gamit, tapos sabay-sabay ang pagregister na ginagawa," he said.
(One IP address sent thousands of requests. One barangay has been traced to a single WiFi source, and has been sending multiple registrations at a time.)
"For a period of time, hindi ka makakapag-register sa website kasi overloaded," he said.
(For a period of time, you cannot register through the website because it is overloaded.)
The Manila Mayor said hackers failed to override the system thanks to "the help of some technological protection."
Domagoso also noted that the local government has monitored several vehicles dropping off people in one vaccination site before dawn, Thursday.
The Manila public information office earlier said it received reports that thousands of people showed up at several vaccination sites, with the largest crowd estimated at 7,000 to 10,000 individuals in SM San Lazaro.
"Ala-una, alas-dos ng madaling araw, may dumating dito na bus-bus, van, mga sasakyan na punong-puno ng tao, partikular lamang sa isang site coming outside of Manila," he said.
(Around 1 or 2 a.m., busses and vans filled with people arrived in one particular vaccination site. They came from outside of Manila.)
The hacking and the deluge of people in Manila's vaccination sites occurred hours before Domagoso's expected oathtaking with Aksyon Demokratiko, a move that fueled speculation that the Manila mayor will run for President in the upcoming 2022 national elections.
When asked if he thinks that the hacking and the chaos vaccination were part of a coordinated effort against him and his political plans, Domagoso said: "Sabi ko lang baka natataon."
(I said it might just be a coincidence.)
Hours after the reported "chaos" in Manila's vaccination hubs, a faulty show-cause order issued against Domagoso surfaced online.
In a memorandum issued in July, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) ordered Domagoso to explain why Manila failed to address the problem of illegal drugs in 2018.
Domagoso was elected mayor in 2019.
On August 6, a day after the show cause order went viral, the DILG withdrew the document, saying it was an “inadvertent re-issuance.”
- with a report from Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News