The Department of Justice (DOJ) has obtained nearly 5,000 experiences of harassment or illegal debt assortment from 2020 to 2022, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla mentioned Monday.
During a media briefing on the SIM Card Registration Act, Remulla mentioned the company’s Office of Cybercrime obtained a complete of 4,899 experiences of harassment and illegal debt assortment from on-line lending corporations, the place the harassment was achieved via telephone calls or textual content messages.
“[W]e are fully supportive of the SIM Registration Act and its IRR because this will address one of the common challenges in the investigation and prosecution of cybercrime and cyber-related cases,” he mentioned.
Citing knowledge from the National Prosecution Service, Remulla mentioned the disposition price in relation to cybercrime and cyber-related instances additionally elevated from 601 instances in 2020 to 1,218 instances in 2022.
He mentioned this had a 30% conviction price in 2022 from the 25% in 2020.
“We are hopeful that with the full implementation of the law, these case disposition and conviction rates will be further improved,” he mentioned.
Meanwhile, Remulla hoped that offenders and victims of on-line sexual abuse and exploitation of youngsters (OSAEC) could also be recognized simpler via the measure.
He mentioned that majority of funds related to youngster pornography are coursed via cash changers and remittance brokers.
“Given that remittance transactions require mobile numbers of senders and receivers, offenders or victims may easily be identified and located using mobile numbers in potential OSAEC cases,” he added.
Scam messages
Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government mentioned that Globe Telecom Inc. blocked 784 million scams and messages in September.
“Ibinalita ng Globe telecom noong Setyembre na umabot sa 784-M scams at spams messages ang ikinailangan nilang i-block,” Interior Undersecretary Margarita Gutierrez mentioned within the briefing.
Gutierrez mentioned Globe additionally positioned 8,973 sim playing cards on their blocklist.
Meanwhile, she mentioned Smart blocked 51 million textual content scams in a single month.
IRR not etched in stone
According to Remulla, the implementing guidelines and regulation of the Sim Card Registration Act is just not etched in stone.
“The IRR may still be subject to amendments or alterations and the NTC is not precluded from releasing additional issuances to supplement the implementation of any particular provision… under the IRR,” he mentioned.
Remulla urged the general public to not be afraid, saying that the act won’t be used for “state surveillance or any such nefarious purpose.”
“The collection of data by the telcos will be under stringent regulatory oversight and monitoring of concerned government agencies so the public can be assured that their data and information will be safeguarded,” he mentioned.
“We further assure the public that the telcos’ compliance with their obligation shall be periodically monitored by the relevant government agencies,” he added. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News
