Senate President Pro Tempore Sherin "Win" Gatchalian has strongly condemned the cyberattack targeting the official website of the Philippine Senate, calling it part of a growing wave of digital threats against government institutions.
In a Facebook post, Gatchalian stressed that the incident should not be taken lightly, even if no legislative files, databases, or sensitive records were reported to have been compromised.
“Mariin nating kinokondena ang cyberattack sa website ng Senado. Ang pangyayaring ito ay bahagi ng isang serye ng mga lumalaking banta at hindi maaaring balewalain,” Gatchalian said.
He further emphasized that such attacks constitute a criminal act and those behind them must be held accountable.
“Ang pag-atake sa ating mga sistema, gaya ng iba pang banta na kinakaharap natin ngayon, ay krimen. At lahat ng kriminal ay dapat managot sa batas,” he added.
Gatchalian also called on the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) to immediately conduct a thorough investigation into the breach.
While no critical data was compromised, he underscored that the intrusion itself represents a serious violation of institutional integrity.
“Kahit walang mga legislative file, database, o sensitibong rekord ang nakompromiso — ang panghihimasok pa lang ay isang napakabigat na paglabag sa integridad ng ating institusyon,” he said.
He assured that the Senate will not be intimidated by such attacks, vowing continued public service despite the incident. “Hindi kami susuko sa intimidasyon. Magpapatuloy ang trabaho para sa bawat Pilipino,” Gatchalian added.
