Villar scolds NTC execs for failing to stop text scams

MANILA, Philippines - Officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and telecommunications firms got a dressing down yesterday from Sen. Cynthia Villar for their failure to curb text message scams, which have victimized not just subscribers but also the senator’s own foundation.

“I am quite sure that a number of us have received scam messages disguised as raffle winnings, promotional advertisements or notices of accidental load transfers or account charges,” Villar said.

Villar, chairperson of the Senate subcommittee on public services, lamented how the Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance (SIPAG) Foundation has been used by unscrupulous individuals and groups in the text scam.

“We cannot reimburse all the victims. But we have issued warnings about the scams,” she said.

She castigated NTC officials Edgardo Cabarrios and Gamaliel Cordoba and telecommunications officials for their failure to curb the text scams that have taken advantage of the weaknesses of the system. 

Villar asked the justice department represented by state counsel Dioxenus Sulit to coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation to arrest and prosecute the scammers.

“On the part of the NTC, you are now hearing this. The text scam proliferates because it is resold through the telcos and we are not doing anything about it. The NTC should know how to address this, to prevent this practice,” Villar said.

Villar noted that one group alone has acquired P100 million in accumulated loads, which were supposedly converted into cash via wire transfer. 

Ronaldo Aguto, head of the NBI Cyber Crime division, said the agency had arrested early this year one suspect identified as Mike Tan, whose text scam operations reached about P100 million in accumulated air time and load credits.

“They were able to convert it into cash,” Aguto said, noting that the scammers use the money transfer services of mobile phone companies to encash the loads transferred by unsuspecting victims.