Boying: Bank robbers have gone digital

An official of the Department of Justice yesterday appealed to lawmakers not to strip it of confidential funds in the proposed 2024 budget.

DoJ Assistant Secretary Dominic Clavano IV said he told lawmakers that the department needs the confidential funds to effectively fight criminality and corruption.  Likewise, the funding would go a long way in making the government's Witness Protection Program more robust, he said.

"Confidential funds are not a luxury for the DoJ but a necessity. Given the nature of its work, the department often handles sensitive cases, some involving high-profile individuals and complex criminal networks," Clavano explained.

The sought-after funds will cover activities involving intelligence gathering, undercover operations, and getting witness testimonies.

"The ability of the DoJ to carry out its mission effectively depends greatly on the resources it is given," he stressed.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla pointed out earlier that the DoJ's cybercrime unit has only 20 staff members — or just 10 percent of its required personnel.

"Actually, if we will have cybercrime prosecutors, we will need at least 200 people for this because 90 percent of the crimes committed nowadays have cybercrime content," the justice chief said.

"In fact, we have not heard of bank robbers physically attacking banks anymore. The money is now being stolen through computers and mobile phones," he added.

Lawmakers were told that the primary unit of the DoJ tasked with going after cybercriminals would only get P475,000 in confidential funds for 2024.

A number of senators said they found the allotment wanting given the proliferation of online scams in the country.

Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito pointed out that the DoJ's budget of P34.5 billion submitted by the Department of Budget and Management was too measly an amount for its mandate.

The senator said they need to augment the funding because they need to go after hackers and other cybercriminals.

"Considering that other agencies, especially those civilian in nature, are asking for confidential and intelligence funds, these are the agencies that we really have to fund," Ejercito added.

He stressed that cybercrime is a daily problem that all Filipinos are encountering which is a new enemy that the country is facing right now.

Of late, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., the Philippine Statistics Authority, and the Philippine National Police have come under attack by hackers.

Ejercito said the appropriations for the DoJ, NBI and other attached agencies were "justifiable," since they spend huge amounts for the Witness Protection Program lone.

He said the NBI, the DoJ's main law enforcement unit, was allotted P175 million in confidential funds.