MANILA (UPDATED) — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Tuesday directed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to address the rising number of cybercrimes by investing more in technology and training more personnel to handle such cases.

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During a meeting in Malacañang, Marcos “ordered the strengthening and improvement of the Philippine National Police’ cybersecurity systems” and told the PNP “to centralize and standardize all communications systems and platforms.”

“Nakita natin na nag-improve iyong crime statistics – it went down by 10 percent. But as we dissected further these crime statistics, there is a need for us to focus on cybercrime – iyon ang nakita natin na medyo tumaas as reported during the last quarter,” PNP chief Benjamin Acorda said in a Palace press briefing.

According to the PNP, the most prevalent form of cybercrimes in the Philippines from July 2022 to January 2024 was swindling or estafa, followed by illegal access, computer-related identity theft, online libel, ATM/credit card fraud, threat, data interferences, photo and video voyeurism, unjust vexation, and computer related fraud.

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“With regards to the statistics, iyon nga nakita natin na masyadong tumaas. But dissecting it further, iyong online… or iyong mga cybercrimes committed, it’s more of iyong mga online scams. To our appreciation, it’s more of awareness for our mga kababayan or to the public about this scheming na ginagawa ng mga criminal over the internet,” Acorda said.

Acorda said that the PNP aims to intensify its training programs to capacitate officers to handle online crimes.

“We intend to really complete this cycling of trainings na ginagawa natin down to the police station this year... But maybe after two month, three months or four months medyo kailangan mag-update na naman tayo. That’s the problem with technology talaga – very fast-evolving and we have to catch up with it,” he said.

“Iyong mga mauunlad na bansa they train us, they train our personnel especially on the investigation or mga transnational crimes. They are very much supportive and helpful in really training us and equipping us the necessary knowledge and the skills in the conduct of investigation of such crimes,” the PNP chief added.

DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos meanwhile said the Philippine Public Safety College would soon launch its National Cybercrime Training Institute to support the training of police personnel.

“Siguro by next week or the most is a month, pipirmahan ko na ‘to – kumpleto na structure nito with the board of trustees, lahat. And this will cater primarily dito sa kapulisyahan natin... Ang maganda dito ay talagang suportado kami ng ating mahal na Pangulo sa programang ito,” Abalos said.

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Meanwhile, the House Committees on Information and Technology (ICT) and on Public Information discussed the recent cybersecurity breaches on government websites.

According to Navotas City Rep. Tobias Tiangco, the recent wave of cyberattacks should be seen as a "wake-up call" for the government to prioritize and protect the country's digital infrastructure.

"The recent cybersecurity breaches have further highlighted the pressing need for enhanced security measures and vigilant monitoring to ensure the integrity of our critical information,” he said.

He also said the House of Representatives is coordinating with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and cybersecurity consultants to address the issue.

According to the PNP, they recorded 64,077 cyber crime cases. Data also showed that cases gradually decreased from March to December 2023, which the PNP said could be attributed to the SIM Card Registration Law.

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