A congressman stated that restoring the 500 million Philippine pesos IT plan for the Philippine National Police (PNP) will enhance government transparency and strengthen the fight against cybercrime.
Toby Tiangco, chairman of the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and representative of Navotas, appreciated President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s decision to reallocate funds from the PNP intelligence budget to its IT projects.
"Cyberspace is ever-changing, and we need to ensure our law enforcement agencies are always up to date," Tiangco said in a statement.
Tiangco emphasized the importance of the IT budget in equipping the PNP to combat phishing scams, identity theft, and other cyber threats.
He cited data from the Social Weather Stations (SWS), which showed that in September 2024, 7.2% of Philippine households were victims of cybercrime.
"From time to time, you hear someone complaining about being hacked, scammed, or phished. It is timely that we really need to invest in our police force's IT plans," Tiangco said.
He also called for improvements to the PNP's 911 emergency hotline system, which is often disrupted by prank calls.
Tiangco stated that the reallocated funds could help develop a comprehensive national 911 system to ensure faster response and prevent misuse. "Sadly, most of the calls our 911 centers receive are prank calls. In addition to implementing sanctions and penalties for prank calls, we also need a system that prevents such behavior and ensures a faster emergency response," he said.
The budget reallocation follows President Marcos's directive to reverse cuts to the PNP IT projects and cancel "inserted" intelligence funds.
At a presidential briefing, Jonvic Remulla, the Minister of Interior and Local Government (DILG), revealed that key IT projects faced significant budget cuts in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
These include:
Strengthening the national police clearance system: reduced from 600 million to 232 million Philippine pesos.
Establishing a secure camp security system: cut from 472 million to 161 million Philippine pesos.
Philippine National Police drug-related data integration and generation system: reduced from 533 million to 196 million Philippine pesos.
Meanwhile, nearly 1 billion Philippine pesos were allocated for all-terrain amphibious vehicles for the Bicol region, and the PNP's intelligence fund was increased by 500 million Philippine pesos.
In response, Marcos instructed Budget Minister Amenah Pangandaman to restore the IT budget to its original amount and cancel the additional intelligence funds.
"As the President instructed the Budget Minister, the IT budget will be restored to the additional 500 million Philippine pesos intelligence funds in the GAA (the IT budget will be restored, and the 500 million Philippine pesos intelligence funds in the GAA will be canceled). So back to the original budget," Remulla said.
Remulla added that the reallocated funds would also support the integration and enhancement of the 911 emergency system.
