Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has underscored the urgent need to amend and update the existing Anti-Cybercrime Act of 2012, also known as Republic Act (RA) No.10175.
Rodriguez made this pitch during a recent hearing of the House Committee on Strategic Intelligence, of which he is a member.
According to the veteran solon, the urgency to amend the 10-year-old law is due to the ever-increasing instances of cybercrimes hounding Filipinos.
He identified the following as the top five cybercrimes affecting businesses and individuals in 2022: phishing scams, website spoofing, ransomware, malware, and Internet of Things (IoT) hacking.
Cybercrime, also called computer crime, is the use of a computer as an instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, trafficking in child pornography and intellectual property, stealing identities, or violating privacy.
Rodriguez requested the Department of Justice (DOJ), Philippine National Police (PNP), and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to draft a new Comprehensive Anti-Cybercrime Bill that will also create a Philippine Anti-Cybercrime Commission.
The agencies promised to submit the draft to the committee.