House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Speaker’s office)

House Speaker Martin Romualdez feels that the cyberattacks on Philippine government websites are getting out of hand.

As such, the House leader has called for an "urgent meeting" with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on these recent cyberattacks purportedly by Chinese hackers, gaying this was a national security issue.

“I express deep concern regarding the recent cybersecurity breaches in government agencies, as reported by the DICT. The revelation that hackers, suspected to be operating from China, have infiltrated the email systems and internal websites of various government agencies, is a matter of national security and public interest,” Romualdez said in a statement early morning Monday, Feb. 5.

“The fact that these breaches have targeted critical domains such as cabsec.gov.ph, coastguard.gov.ph, cpbrd.congress.gov.ph, dict.gov.ph, doj.gov.ph, and ncws.gov.ph, in addition to the private domain of President Ferdinand "Bongbong” Marcos Jr, signifies a dire need for an immediate and comprehensive response,” added the Speaker.

DICT Undersecretary for Connectivity, Cybersecurity and Upskilling Jeffrey Ian Dy reported that cybersecurity experts prevented the hacking of government websites and email addresses by China-based cybercriminals.

Dy said one of these attacks was an attempt to take down the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) website.

To this, Romualdez said: "Hindi natin ito dapat palampasin at kailangan nating labanan (We need to fight this, we must not let this one slide)."

“In light of these alarming developments, I am calling on the DICT and other concerned agencies to conduct a thorough briefing for the House of Representatives. This briefing should focus on the nature and extent of these cyberattacks, the current measures in place to prevent future incidents, and strategies for enhancing our cybersecurity infrastructure,” Romualdez said.

He said the briefing could be done in the House of Representatives as soon as possible, most probably this week, and will be conducted by the House Committee on Public Information and the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology chaired by Agusan del Norte 1st district Rep. Joboy Aquino and Navotas lone district Rep. Toby Tiangco, respectively.

Romualdez underscored the importance of holding such briefing in an open hearing.

"Transparency in this matter is crucial as it affects not just the integrity of our government's digital infrastructure but also the safety and privacy of our citizens,” noted the Leyte 1st district congressman.

“This incident reminds us of the urgent need to strengthen our cybersecurity policies and protocols. We must ensure that our national cybersecurity strategies are robust enough to withstand such attacks and agile enough to adapt to the evolving digital landscape,” he added.