The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) unveiled on Friday, June 17, its state-of-the-art Digital Forensics Platform and Laboratory (DFPAL) at its new headquarters in Roces Avenue in Quezon City.
The CICC said the DFPAL will serve as an important tool of the government’s fight against the rising cybercrimes, especially Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC).
“The opening of DFPAL will allow the CICC to monitor and coordinate with other law enforcement agencies in conducting thorough digital and forensic investigations and assist them in prosecuting cybercriminals nationwide,” said CICC executive director Cezar O. Mancao II.
Mancao said one of the goals of the CICC is to address the worsening problem of OSAEC.
“The CICC’s DFPAL was established and operationalized to conduct relentless, coordinated efforts to prevent, disrupt, and possibly stop if not mitigate the issues of OSAEC through the collaborative partnership of local and international stakeholders towards providing a cybersafe environment for children,” said Mancao.
“We have acquired a powerful state-of-the-art technology, which will improve the success rates of investigators and policing operations in the ongoing pursuit to identify, apprehend, and convict individuals and networks associated with online child sexual exploitation,” he added.
The CICC said DFPAL will be manned by trained and certified professionals from various fields such as information and communications technology, psychology, digital forensics, data analytics, research, and communications that would provide vital support to the operations of the CICC.
The CICC was created by virtue of Republic Act 10175, also known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, for policy coordination among concerned agencies. It is one of the attached agencies of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) tasked to lead the government’s efforts in the fight against cybercrimes
The CICC said it has undertaken several programs, such as Child Online Safeguarding Policy (COSP), Cyber Patrol Program, Batang Barangay Capability Program, and the Cyber Conflict Program, among others. It also part of the Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornography (IACACP) and the Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking (IACAT).
The agency noted that the Covid-19 pandemic aggravated the problem of online child exploitation involving child pornography and other forms of child online sexual abuse, specifically with children from low-income families.
“OSAEC is a tragic and growing problem in the Philippines, but it does not need to be a permanent one. We will do everything that we can to protect Filipino children. We have to act now and fight against these monster predators. We need to help each other to protect our netizens,” said Mancao.
Now that crimes are borderless, Mancao said the unprecedented access to the Internet through computers and mobile phones has made children the most vulnerable segment to cybercrime.
“These technologies are now embedded in their lives, our lives. With the DFPAL, the CICC will be better equipped to fight OSAEC,” Mancao, a former police officer, said.
“The opening of this new facility will provide law enforcement agencies with updated data and intelligence that can lead to the arrest and prosecution of these predators,” he added.
To report a cybercrime against children, call helplines 09666524885 and 09206260217, or send email at report@cicc.gov.ph. You may also reach out to NBI-Cybercrime Division (nbi.gov.ph or at (877) 624-7707), PNP – Anti-Cybercrime Group (acg.pnp.gov.ph or at 0998 598 8116), and DOJ – Office of Cybercrime (+632-5238482).
