Baguio City is seeking to build capability on cybercrime prevention, suppression and prosecution with the help of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordina-ting Center (CICC), an inter-agency body mandated to coordinate cybercrime prevention programs with local government units and the business sector.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong and CICC Executive Director Cezar Mancao on Nov. 25 signed a memorandum of agreement in a virtual program for the implementation of “acceptable modes of coordination and cooperation in addressing and mitigating the cyber threat in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 10175” or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Both agreed to collaborate and cooperate on the areas of intelligence, investigations training, and capacity building related to cybercrime prevention, suppression, and prosecution.
Among the activities will be the conduct of training and capacity building sessions for the enhancement of theoretical, technical, and legal knowledge on cybercrime prevention and suppression, cybersecurity and pertinent provisions of RA 10175 and campaigns against online sexual abuse and exploitation of children for select LGU personnel and representatives of the government agencies, non-government agencies, and other sectors.
The CICC will conduct the trainings and provide speakers while the city government will provide the venue and technical support and designate the participants.
In the MOA, it was noted that numerous false and misleading posts and content, which caused violations of health and safety protocols and community quarantine guidelines have proliferated through various social media platforms.
“The city’s vaccination and quarantine enforcement efforts have been diminished and impaired by the dissemination of these false posts and content which if not acted upon endanger the health and safety of the city’s citizens,” the MOA said.
“The (CICC and the city government) recognize that there is a need to adopt an appropriate digital governance and adherence to proper cyber risk management to address the growing concerns against all forms of cybercrime incidents.” – Aileen P. Refuerzo
