House eyes more funds for DICT in 2024 amid cyberattacks

The House of Representatives is in favor of increasing the  budget allocation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology to combat the spate of cybersecurity attacks, House Committee on Appropriations chairperson Elizaldy Co of Ako-Bicol party-list said Monday.

Co issued the statement in light of the consecutive reports of government websites and databases being hit by cyberattacks such as the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Department of Science and Technology, the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Statistics Authority and the House of Representatives itself.

“We recognize the dire need of the DICT for resources to fight cybercrime and ransomware attacks. We will work with our colleagues in the Senate to look for more sources of funds for the DICT,” Co said.

“For the continuing ransomware attacks, we convey to the Department of Budget and Management the urgent need for additional funds for the DICT and for government agencies being attacked and vulnerable to cyberattack,” Co added.

In addition, Co said additional resources can also be funded from the unprogrammed fund of the 2023 national budget.

The unprogrammed fund refers to budget items which will only be funded if there is an excess of target government revenues for the year, subject to the approval of the DBM.

Further, Co said the use of savings can also be authorized for augmentation spending on IT security and ransomware countermeasures.

No confidential, intel funds

Co, in another statement, also clarified that additional funds for the DICT would not include intelligence nor confidential funds whose audit findings are not accessible to the public.

“For immediate 2023 needs, the only available funding flexibility would be the unprogrammed fund, which is under the ambit of the DBM. It would be up to the DICT to ask the DBM how much it needs for its ongoing fight against the hackers and to quickly build defenses against cyberattacks in priority vulnerable agencies,” Co said.

For the 2024 budget, Co said that while the House would work on an agreement with the Senate, it would be best if the DICT informed Congress how much in additional funding would be needed and could be spent, vis-a-vis the absorptive capacity for the maintenance and other operating expenses and personnel services items of its three major budgeted programs and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center under DICT.

“Again, there will be no intelligence nor confidential funds for this budget augmentation,” Co added.

The House earlier stripped P1.23 billion worth of confidential funds from civilian agencies, including the DICT's P300 million under the proposed 2024 budget, to realign it to other agencies directly mandated to ensure national security, including those at the front lines in defending the country’s sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea. 

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has already tasked agencies to address the cyberattacks at the soonest possible time, saying authorities should be proactive and not reactive in these situations. 

The proposed DICT budget for 2024 is at P8.729 billion.

The DICT, however, has also drawn criticisms due to its low utilization rate of its budget, using only 6% of its P14 billion available budget for 2023 as of end of August.  — RSJ/KBK, GMA Integrated News