DICT seeking P300M confidential funds to go after scammers

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology is the latest government agency to justify its allocation of confidential funds in the proposed 2024 budget, saying that the P300 million lump sum would be used to go after scammers.

DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy in a press briefing Wednesday said that the confidential funds are “essential” to successfully identify and investigate scammers who use a number of tactics to avoid detection.

“Our hands are tied if we don't have the proper tools to go after them. And many of these tools and many of these methodologies require confidential funds to do it,” Uy said in Filipino.

Uy added that the individuals or groups running the scams are "very well-funded, very well-organized and very highly technical." 

The DICT has one of the lowest budget utilization rates among agencies, so far being able to spend only 5.6% of its budget in 2023, according to the Department of Budget and Management.

The DICT did not have an allocation for confidential and intelligence funds in 2023.

Overall, the total amount of confidential and intelligence funds in the proposed budget for 2024 is P10.15 billion, according to the 2024 National Expenditure Program.

Of this amount, P4.5 billion will go to the Office of the President while P500 million will go to the Office of the Vice President.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that the Senate oversight committee on confidential and intelligence funds will review agencies’ use of the secret fund and, if necessary, augment the lump sum to increase the funds of the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard.

During a hearing by the Senate Public Services Committee last week, chief of the National Bureau of Investigation’s cybercrime division, Jeremy Lotoc, told senators that they were able to get past the SIM Registration System with bogus ID pictures featuring a smiling monkey.

RELATED: NBI test shows SIM registration system accepts IDs with animal faces  

To recall, proponents of the SIM Card Registration Act said the law would increase accountability in the use of SIM cards and allow law enforcers to identify those committing fraud through phones. — Cristina Chi