The series of online hacking attacks targeting government agencies can also possibly hit financial institutions and public utilities which are more risky for the country, Senator Win Gatchalian warned on Thursday.

Gatchalian expressed concerns over cybersecurity threats amid recent cyberattacks on the significant databases of the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and the House of Representatives.

He said these hacking incidents seem to be organized.

"Parang organized ang mga hacking na nangyayari at hindi coincidence, pero ang tingin ko posibleng umpisa lang ito ng mga makikita pa nating mga problema," he noted.

Gatchalian said banks, public utilities, and other critical services, such as airports, water distribution, and power transmission lines, could also be potential targets of cyber attacks "if they are caught off-guard" by these hackers.

He warned the government's lack of readiness to fend off these cybersecurity attacks can cause greater impacts on the economy and may halt the delivery of basic services to the people.

"Nakikita dito na hindi talaga tayo ready. We need to act right away. This is a clear and present danger that we need to address right now," he said.

Gatchalian cited that the Department of Information and Communications Technology has even admitted that "the government is ill-prepared for these cyberattack incidents."

Thus, Gatchalian said providing confidential and intelligence funds to DICT would be beneficial so that the agency could enhance its capability to help shield the country from cybersecurity attacks.

"Concerted effort ito. Sinasadya at tinetesting ang capability ng ating gobyerno. Nakakabahala na baka lumalim," he emphasized.

He then reiterated his proposed legislation designed to strengthen the cybersecurity capabilities of organizations in the country.

Specifically, Senate Bill 2066, or the Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Act, will require organizations to have their own cybersecurity officers and develop cybersecurity plans.

The proposed measure mandates all covered critical information institutions "to adopt and implement adequate measures to protect their information and communications technology systems and infrastructures and respond to and recover from any information security incident."