Tags: Legislation
By Alexander Villafania
PASAY CITY, METRO MANILA – The Cybercrime Bill, which has taken over 10 years being deliberated on, is just a few steps away from becoming law as the Senate finally passed on its third and final reading the Senate Bill 2796, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
The proposal, filed by Senator Edgardo Angara, aims to provide stronger enforcement capabilities to go after individuals committing Internet-related crimes in the Philippines.
The bill covers illegal access (hacking) and interception of information, data and system interference, misuse of devices, and digital forgery and fraud. Cybersex and child pornography are also covered in the proposal.
An annual budget of P50 million would be given to the appropriate agency for implementation if SB 2796 is passed into law. The proposal states that the lead agency is the Department of Justice (DOJ), followed by the defunct Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).
However, the latter was reorganized and transferred to become the sub-agency Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Nevertheless, the proposed law also aims to have the ICTO to put up the National Cybersecurity Coordinating Council (NCCC) that would formulate and implement the national cyber security plan.
Violators could be penalized with imprisonment and be fined between P50,000 to P1 million.
Citing a report from security software firm Kaspersky, Angara stressed that the Philippines is one of the most vulnerable Southeast Asian countries to cybercrime.
He also stressed that the country’s growing information and communications technology industry (ICT) would depend on the cybercrime bill against illegal activities that could lead to information and identity theft, which could prove detrimental to doing business with international firms.
A similar proposal in the House of Representatives is already being deliberated. A version by Angara’s son, Representative Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara (lone district of Aurora), was filed in 2009 and is just awaiting its third reading.
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‘Cybercrime’ in the Philippines on the rise, warns Symantec
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