DICT defends P300 million confidential fund request

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) yesterday defended its request for P300 million in confidential funds, saying it is crucial in the agency’s fight against scammers and cybercriminals.

During the Senate finance committee deliberations on the proposed 2024 budget for the DICT and its attached agencies, Secretary Ivan John Uy requested an executive session to discuss with senators the agency’s plan to use the secret funds against syndicates who skirt the SIM card registration.

“One of the reasons we are challenged in going after them is we lack the ability to do so, because our hands are tied with respect to intelligence gathering,” Uy said.

“Cyber criminals hide behind layers of identity so we need more in-depth capability in terms of identifying the perpetrators,” he added.

Digital scams continue to proliferate despite the SIM card registration because of over-the-top messaging services like Whatsapp and Viber, which can still be used without SIM cards, Uy said.

Authorities earlier raided a Philippine offshore gambling operator in Pasay City and confiscated 28,000 SIM cards used to siphon P1 billion from the digital wallets of the victims.

“We lack the necessary tools and resources in order to address this. Their methods are sophisticated,” Uy said.

Sen. Grace Poe asked the DICT to first account for the P1.2 billion in confidential funds it received in 2019 and 2020.

During the hearing, DICT auditors said that only P400 million in secret funds were released as the remaining P800 million formed part of the savings that went to the government’s COVID-19 response. — Delon Porcalla, Sheila Crisostomo