Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday called for a break on tackling Charter change as a bigger problem threatens national security due to foreign intrusions into the country’s cyberspace. 

Hontiveros filed Senate Resolution No. 923 urging the chamber’s committee on national defense and security to lead an investigation of foreign cyberattacks against Philippine agencies.

This came after the Department of Information and Communications Technology recently reported it has foiled cyber attacks against various government agencies, wherein they likewise detected that hackers are believed to be operating “within China.”

Hontiveros lamented that while the government is “wasting time” in the Charter Change discussion, China, on the other hand, is non-stop surveilling the country. 

“Imbes na ang enerhiya natin ay mapunta sa pagpapalakas ng mga batas para sa ating pambansang seguridad, nag-aaksaya tayo ng panahon para sa interes ng iilan (We should rather focus our energy in strengthening our policies in national security, we are wasting time for the personal interests of some),” she said. 

On 3 February, the DICT said the hackers breached the email systems and internal websites of several government agencies including those maintained and operated by the Philippine Coast Guard, the Office of the Cabinet Secretary, the Department of Justice, the National Coast Watch System, the House of Representatives, and that of the DICT itself. 

It added that several private domains were also targeted in the cyber attack, including the personal website of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. 

“This is a major cyberattack. While we are all busy cleaning up the mess of the sham 'People's Initiative,' China has taken advantage of the current instability in the country to strike at our vulnerabilities,” said Hontiveros. 

“Dapat ito ang pagtuunan ng pansin, hindi yung mga pekeng insiyatibo na nanggugulo lang sa mga Pilipino (We should pay attention to this, not in that fake initiative that dividing us Filipinos),” she added. 

In her resolution, Hontiveros mentioned the 2023 research by Palo Alto research firm Unit 42, which reported that a similar cyber-intrusion targeting a Southeast Asian government then attempted to install other tools and malware to maintain a foothold in the environment and establish persistence, for long-term surveillance.

“Hindi natin alam, baka naka-install na ng mga malware itong Chinese hackers sa ating mga (We don’t know, Chinese might have already installed malware to our) Philippine Coast Guard assets. If so, these recent cyber-intrusions threaten to compromise resupply missions to Ayungin shoal, the security of Philippine Armed Forces personnel stationed on the B.R.P. Sierra Madre, and the wider Philippine national interests in the West Philippine Sea,” she said. 

“Tama na ChaCha, Tsina ang mas malaking problema (End ChaCha becasue China is our bigger problem). Let us stop wasting time on changing the Constitution. Unahin na natin ang mga problema sa ekonomiya at ang napakalaking banta na dala ng Tsina,” she said.