THE BAD NEWS is, incidents of cybercrime are increasing, and the cybercriminals are seemingly getting bolder and smarter.
The good news is, the government is very serious about combatting cybercrime, and it now has the right organizations to do it, coupled with the right laws to back them up.
Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) is a newly established government agency that has its own charter, but is attached to the DICT.
The CICC lists the DICT, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) as its “affiliated” agencies, and the Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) as its law enforcement agencies.
Perhaps it is just a billing issue, but technically, the CICC is attached to the DICT, therefore it is not simply an “affiliate”, so to speak.
It is clear that in this pecking order, the DICT is “primus inter pares” simply because it is a cabinet level department, and in fact, both the NPC and the NTC are attached to it.
While the CICC appears to have its own law enforcement powers, both the PNP and the NBI also have their own powers. As a matter of fact, both of these agencies also have their own anti-cybercrime groups.
While it is good to have an apparent duplication of functions, it is also better if these are well coordinated.
By the way, the Department of Justice also has its own anti-cybercrime group, but only for purposes of international coordination.
JUST ANOTHER WAY TO PAY YOUR TAXES
If you pay your taxes in the usual manner, the money will go directly to the National Treasury and from there, the Congress will decide how and where it will be spent.
But if you donate your money to a local government unit with a tax credit scheme, your taxes will go directly to a project of your choice, to a locality of your choice.
Same obligation, same money. The only difference is that you and only you can decide where your money should go, and for what project.
We all complain about graft in the government, amid reports that about a third of the national budget is eaten up by graft and corruption. Being the ones who contribute money to the government by way of mandatory taxes, we can usually do nothing except to complain how it is stolen by some government officials, and how it is not being spent the way we want to.
While we also complain about many shortcomings in law enforcement, we also note that our uniformed services are also always lacking in money to spend for vehicles, weapons and other equipment that could make the do their jobs better. That is the reason why I am encouraging individual and corporate taxpayers to donate directly to law enforcement agencies such as the PNP, the NBI, the Bureau of Customs and the Philippine Coast Guard, in cash or in kind.
If any individual or corporate taxpayer would like to try this other approach of paying your taxes, please let me know via email iseneres@yahoo.com./PN
