Almost three years since Pres. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino III signed Republic Act (RA) No. 10175, also known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, government agencies have finalized the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 10175 last Wednesday.
More than a year after the Supreme Court upheld the law’s constitutionality against crimes on the Internet, the IRR was signed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo, and Department of Interior Local Government Undersecretary Edwin Enrile (on behalf of Secretary Mar Roxas). The IRR is seen by the DOJ as a user’s manual for law enforcers, complainants, and lawyers in implementing the law.
According to the Philippine National Police Cybersecurity Research and Analysis Division, there are about 33.6 million Philippine internet users who are subject to the various crimes against and by any means of computer systems. According to the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group, from 288 reported cases of cybercrime incidents in 2013, the records now show an increase with 614 reported cybercrime incidents from January to December 2014, with 22% of these consist of internet fraud and scams, 16% is online libel, 11% voyeurism, 10% online harassment, 9% identity theft, 8% Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 violations, 7% “sextortions”, and the rest spread out – child abuse, illegal gambling, violence against women, and credit card fraud.
But these numbers are bound to get higher as head of the DOJ Office of Cybercrim (OCC), Assistant Secretary Geronimo L. Sy shares, ” We will see more reporting over the years. With laws in place, it will only increase more because of clearer rules. What’s important is that the more serious cybercrimes be prevented and caught.”
Section 36 of the newly adopted rules state that the IRR will take effect 15 days after its publication in “at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.”
Read the entire Implementing Rules and Regulations for RA 10175 here:
You can also visit http://doj.gov.ph for more info.
