Senators assert need to give DICT, DOJ confi funds to boost fight vs cyber crimes
Senators on Wednesday, October 11 have expressed their support for ample confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) for the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the proposed 2024 national budget to boost the government’s fight against cybercrime.
Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, said there should be funds allocated to fight cybersecurity threats for the DICT, whether it is in the form of confidential funds or maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).
Angara concedes that cybercrime is now “the new form of warfare” that the government should be prepared to fight head on.
“You can paralyze a government online. So yun ang mga dapat tignan natin (So those are the things we need to consider),” Angara said in an interview.
“Pag-aralan natin, baka outdated na yung ways of thinking natin (Let’s study that, our ways of thinking could already be outdated),” he pointed out.
Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, likewise, said reiterated his belief that CIFs should be given to departments of agencies that deal with national security.
“My position is that confidential and intelligence funds are better left with departments or agencies that has something to do with national security and fight against criminality,” Ejercito said in a statement.
That is why, Ejercito said he is pushing the allocation of CIFs for agencies like DICT and the Department of Justice (DOJ) through the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) anti-cybercrime unit.
“I am also pushing that agencies like DICT and DOJ through NBI anti-cybercrime be given confidential and intelligence funds (to strengthen the) fight against cybercrime,” he said.
“Because this also pertains to national security and cybercrime which victimizes thousands everyday specially the more vulnerable in the society,” he insisted.
“Cybercrime is the new enemy of society,” Ejercito stressed.