NBI flags foreign-backed networks ‘manipulating, mind-conditioning’ public ahead of 2028 polls

Initial findings by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) indicate that foreign entities may be involved in online operations aimed at manipulating public opinion, particularly as the 2028 national elections approach, NBI Director Melvin Matibag told a Senate panel on Thursday.

Matibag made the disclosure after Sen. JV Ejercito asked whether China could be behind social media efforts to discredit the government and politicians critical of Beijing’s actions in the West Philippine Sea.

Ejercito asked whether foreign funding could be supporting online activities involving what he described as trolls and “keyboard warriors.”

Matibag said the NBI has evidence linking some anti-government online operations to foreign organizations, but stopped short of identifying China as the source.

“Not necessarily a foreign government, but there is an effort to do that because when we follow it, we see that it is going in that direction,” he said.

He said such operations may also be connected to cyber fraud and transnational organized crime.

Matibag said the NBI, with assistance from the United States Department of Homeland Security, plans to establish a Transnational Crime Investigation Unit to address foreign-linked cyber operations and their potential economic and political implications.

“I mentioned earlier that the 2028 election is coming. There can be conditioning being used by the platform funded by a foreign entity, not necessarily again a foreign sovereign, but there are strong indications,” Matibag said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Kiko Pangilinan raised the possibility that foreign-linked cyber networks could be connected to recent school shootings, saying the incidents appeared unusual and could be “organized, syndicated and calibrated.” Matibag said the concern was valid and that the NBI was monitoring online activity that could encourage students to commit violence.

Matibag also said the NBI has drafted an age-gating framework to restrict access to websites or applications based on users’ ages. He said the bureau needs additional funding to strengthen its cybercrime capabilities.

He said the NBI handles an average of 200 cyber fraud cases a month.

Senators backed calls to strengthen funding for the bureau’s cybercrime operations, including its intelligence and confidential funds, which were recommended to fall from P350.4 million this year to P175.4 million next year.

The NBI's claims about foreign involvement remain part of an ongoing investigation and were presented by Matibag as initial findings, rather than a definitive attribution to a particular foreign government.