Manila Bulletin technology officer Arturo Samaniego Jr. appeared before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Friday, July 5, to shed light on allegations implicating him in the hacking of the systems of several government agencies and banks.
Samaniego was at the NBI Cybercrime Division (NBI-CCD), accompanied by two lawyers, in response to a subpoena from the law enforcement agency.
Samaniego declined to talk to media, but an NBI official who requested anonymity revealed that the former was presented with the extrajudicial confessions of three hacking suspects the NBI-CCD arrested last June 19.
All three suspects have been charged with illegal access under Section 4(a)(1) and misuse of device under Section 5(iii) of Republic Act (RA) 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012; and unauthorized access or intentional breach under Section 29 of RA 10173, otherwise known as the Data Privacy Act of 2012.
The NBI official said the NBI-CCD will again issue a subpoena directing Samaniego to appear anew before investigators.
In the meantime, the NBI official said the forensic examination of the electronic devices seized from the three hacking suspects is still ongoing.