THE Technology editor of a major news daily who was linked to a series of hacking incidents by a suspect arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) denied the allegations against him and said he had been a long-time partner of government agencies in cybersecurity.
The suspect, one of three, presented by the NBI to the media on Friday, told reporters in an interview that he hacked some of the websites under the instructions of the "IT editor" of a major news daily, which he later identified as The Manila Bulletin. The editor the suspect referred to was Art Samaniego Jr.
He said the editor allegedly instructed him to hack into several websites so he could use them as content for his column and social media platforms.
The suspect, identified initially as an "IT officer" of the paper, alleged that the editor recently asked him to look for "vulnerabilities" in the 1Sambayan opposition coalition app.
In a statement on Saturday, Samaniego said that he did not order the hacking of some government and bank websites to boost his social media reach.
Samaniego cited the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), saying he would not gain anything from compromising its website.
"He (the suspect) claimed I asked him to hack AFP so I could have content, but I can't write about it because we have an AFP beat reporter. There is a hole in his allegation immediately," he said.
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Samaniego said the suspect worked at the administrative department of the Manila Bulletin and not in IT, as reported previously.
The Manila Bulletin neither confirmed nor denied that the arrested hacker was an employee.
In a statement on Friday, the newspaper said it has always "adhered to the laws of the land and requires its employees to be law-abiding."
"We expect our employees to be accorded their rights. We assure the public of Manila Bulletin's utmost fidelity to the laws of the land," it said.
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The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it would assist the NBI in filing charges against individuals suspected of hacking private and government websites.
The DICT said this would help law enforcement agencies apprehend suspected cybercriminals.
"We will assist our colleagues from the NBI as their technical consultants and help them build their case against these suspected individuals," said the DICT.
The NBI arrested the individuals suspected of being behind the hacking of the pages of the AFP and the National Security Council.
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"This is continuing. We will be releasing more in the coming days. We will be presenting more in relation to hacking," NBI Director Jaime Santiago said.
