President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to beef up its anti-cybercrime efforts.

The President gave the directive during the first Command Conference of the PNP held at the national police headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon City on Thursday.

Marcos noted the increase in cybercrime cases to 21,300 in 2023 from 13,890 in 2022. He stressed the need for the PNP to improve its prevention, detection and investigation of cases to combat cybercrimes given current sophisticated crime modalities.

He added that the high number of cybercrime cases indicates how technology has evolved and how the police have to keep up to prevent this trend from continuing.

“So, we have to build our cybercrime unit from scratch. Now, we need experts to do this. Magaling ang pinoy. So, for whatever reason, magaling ang pinoy sa IT, we seem to have a talent for it,” Marcos told the PNP.

PNP’s records from July 1, 2022 to January 31, 2024 show that online scams topped the list of cybercrime cases at 15,937, followed by illegal access at 4,821, and computer-related identity theft cases at 2,384.

The PNP proposed to establish a Cybersecurity Center that should be responsible for the monitoring, detection, protection and mitigation of , and response to cybersecurity issues and incidents in the PNP ICT infrastructure.

Marcos also emphasized the need to improve PNP’s communications equipment and tasked them to be more strategic in the procurement of their equipment, particularly for information and communications technology.

“We really have to come up with a plan to improve the communications capability of the PNP. You cannot do your job without being able to communicate because mag-aantay kayo ng instruction, mag-rereport kayo sa central office. So, that’s something that I think we have to look into very well,” Marcos said.

“The advantage that we have is that technology is getting cheaper. Satellite phones are getting cheaper. All kinds of communications equipment are getting cheaper and better. So, tignan nang mabuti what it is that we can do so we can provide our people with the best possible communications equipment," he added.

On the other hand, the President reminded the PNP to ensure that their proposed amendments to the PNP’s Reform and Reorganization Bill pending in Congress will be included in the final version.

PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda assured the President that they are in close coordination with lawmakers for the said amendments.

“They are now giving me opportunity to review the Senate version before the bicam. And they are asking me to write a letter to include all the provisions that we wanted rectified from this Senate version of the reorg bill,” Acorda said.

The President also lauded the PNP for its accomplishments, particularly on the peace and order situation in the country. Presidential News Desk