DSWD taps NBI, DICT to probe ‘wrong info,’ hacking of DSWD-NCR FB account

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has sought the assistance of the anti-cybercrime teams of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to investigate the spread of a “wrong information,” which led dozens of people to flock to the agency’s National Capital Region (NCR) to apply for the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).

On Friday, senior citizens, solo parents, and students trooped to the DSWD-NCR office after receiving information that application for the SLP was scheduled on that day despite officials saying there was no such activity for the day. 

During the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restobar in Quezon City, DSWD officer-in-charge Undersecretary Edu Punay explained that fictitious text messages and fake Facebook announcements, saying there was a payout scheduled on that day, circulated.

“Our NCR office actually asked help from our NBI Cybercrime Office to address this matter,” Punay said.

“The investigation is still ongoing…,” he said.

Nonetheless, the DSWD official said the agency still distributed forms to those who trooped to the NCR office and obtained their basic information.

However, the forms given were not the official application form for the SLP or any of their programs, DSWD Assistant Secretary Rommel Lopez said in an earlier interview on Dobol B TV.

Punay said that the forms will still be evaluated to assess if the individuals are eligible for the program.

The DSWD official explained that the SLP is a project aimed as an “exit program” for 4Ps graduates to allow them to have a sustainable livelihood once their monthly subsidies have stopped.

“[Under] SLP they will be given puhunan of P15,000 na panimula,” Punay said.

Meanwhile, the DSWD official also announced that “the Facebook account of our NCR [office] was hacked.”

The DSWD official said the agency’s NCR official also sought the help of the DICT’s Cybersecurity Group to address the hacking incident.

In a separate statement, the DSWD confirmed that the Facebook page of its NCR field office was hacked at around 6 p.m. on January 13.

“Ito ang dahilan kung bakit may mga hindi pangkaraniwang post doon na hindi nauugnay sa Ahensiya. Humihingi kami ng paumanhin para sa anumang abala na maaaring naidulot nito,” the agency said.

“Patuloy ngayon ang imbestigasyon at pagsasaayos para muling mabawi ang Facebook page ng FO NCR. Nakikipag-ugnayan na rin ang DSWD sa kaukulang mga Ahensya ng gobyerno para sa imbestigasyon sa insidente. Sa kabila naman nito, tinitiyak ng DSWD na hindi maaapektuhan ang pagbibigay ng serbisyo ng FO NCR sa ating mga kliyenteng nangangailangan sa Metro Manila,” it added. —KG, GMA Integrated News