Congress urged to amend PH’s digital laws, make them ‘more relevant’

Lawmakers should look into the country’s digital laws and amend them to address current cyber-related issues such as artificial intelligence, a former official said Tuesday.

Former Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) undersecretary Monchito Ibrahim pointed out that the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) is not indicated in the DICT Law, despite being the agency responsible for it.

“I think there’s a need for legislators to look into the digital laws and amend them to make it more relevant to the needs of digital norms,” Ibrahim, who is now an executive member of the National Innovation Council, said in a conference in Pasay City.

DICT was established in 2016 as a “primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, and administrative entity of the Executive Branch of the government that will plan, develop, and promote the national ICT development agenda.”

Ibrahim added that lawmakers should also revisit the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

Meanwhile, Police Colonel Jay Guillermo, Cyber Response Unit Division Chief of the Philippine National Police, said identifying crimes committed using malware is “very challenging.”

Malware is an intrusive software that steals data and damages a computer, network, or server.

“Kahit na [even if] the suspect is by your side, it may take us months or years before we identify their exact identity,” Guillermo said.

“It's very hard on the part of law enforcement to cope up with the trends because based on technology and software upgrading, the funding is very limited on the part of the government,” he added.

With the theme Navigating Tomorrow’s Cyber Threats with Today’s Innovative Solutions,” Secure Horizons 2024 discussed cyber-related issues, particularly on cybersecurity, blockchain, AI, and data privacy.

Ibrahim and Guillermo were among the 10 speakers at the conference.

The others were DICT Undersecretary Jeffrey Dy, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Colonel Francel Taborlupa, Impact Solutions Research Institute founder Jan Chavez-Arceo, Blackpanda Group CEO Gene Yu, Red Rock IT Security, Inc. co-founder Raymond Nuñez, Straits Interactive country manager Edwin Concepcion, and BayaniChain Technology founder Paul Soliman.

The conference was organized by DITO CME Ventures, Inc. — BM, GMA Integrated News