Gov’t won’t tolerate hacking of Chinese websites – Palace

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government does not tolerate hacking of websites, Malacañang said yesterday after Filipino hackers admitted attacking almost 200 Chinese government and private websites in retaliation for Beijing’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea. 

“We have laws on maintenance of integrity of sites... in cyberspace and we need to remind all concerned that such laws are being enforced in our country respective of views that may be held by people that are resorting to those actions,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said.    

The hackers dubbed their campaign “OpChinaReloaded” and said it was meant to stop China’s bullying in the West Philippine Sea. 

The hackers claim to belong to the groups Anonymous Philippines, Panay Cyber Haxxors, Panay Cyber Army, and Phantom Hackers PH.  

The hackers inserted pages on the Chinese websites and posted a message that read: “China’s alleged claim on maritime territories and oppressive poaching can no longer be tolerated. Stand against oppression! It’s time to fight back! Say no to China’s bullying!”  

They posted links of the defaced websites on Facebook.  

The Philippines and China have been locked in a dispute over areas in the West Philippine Sea that Beijing claims almost in its entirety.  

In 2012, Filipino hackers began attacking Chinese websites to protest China’s increasingly aggressive behavior in the West Philippine Sea.

Chinese hackers retaliated and defaced Filipino websites.