DICT strengthens 1326 hotline to fight scams, fake news

By Marita Moaje, Philippine News Agency

He said that people normally hesitate to report that they have been scammed, either because they are embarrassed or because they do not trust the government. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA – The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is ramping up efforts to protect Filipinos from online scams, fake news and cybercrime by enhancing its hotline 1326, the government’s dedicated digital complaints channel.

In a Bagong Pilipinas interview aired over People’s Television Network on Friday, Assistant Secretary Renato Paraiso said the DICT is expanding the hotline’s capacity to handle more reports, and provide a faster feedback mechanism and clearer assistance to Filipinos nationwide.

“Palalakasin natin itong hotline 1326, magkakaroon ho tayo ng mas malakawang response mechanism at feedback mechanism. Iyon ang importante eh (We will strengthen this hotline 1326, we will have a stronger response mechanism and feedback mechanism. That’s what’s important),” Paraiso said.

He said that people normally hesitate to report that they have been scammed, either because they are embarrassed or because they do not trust the government.

“May magagawa tayo. Ngayon papatunayan natin iyan, kapag nag-report kayo, kami mismo ang tatawag ulit sa inyo para sabihin ano na ang status ng kaso ninyo, ano na iyong progress ng kaso ninyo, may kailangan pa ba kami sa inyo. So hanggang — iyon talagang balak natin attribution, apprehension, prosecution, conviction. Hanggang doon ho ang gusto natin gawin (We can do something. Now we will prove that, when you report, we ourselves will call you back to tell you what the status of your case is, what the progress of your case is, is there anything else we need from you. So until — that’s really our plan attribution, apprehension, prosecution, conviction. That’s what we want to do),” Paraiso said.

He explained that hotline 1326 is the first line of defense for citizens who encounter scams, phishing attempts or fake social media posts.

Meanwhile, beyond receiving calls, DICT is integrating hotline 1326 with the digital eGov application and eReport system, allowing Filipinos to report via phone, online forms or messaging apps — all linked to a centralized database for swift government action.

Paraiso stressed that the goal is to provide a seamless, multi-channel reporting system that puts the power to stop scams and misinformation into the hands of every Filipino.

Likewise, he said the DICT is partnering with the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) in terms of fact-checking to prevent the proliferation of fake news.

“Ito naman ang maganda, iyong partnership ho ng DICT, ni Secretary Henry Aguda at ni [PCO] Secretary Jay Ruiz. Napag-usapan ho namin na ang PCO ho ang mangangasiwa pagdating sa (This is the good thing, the partnership between the DICT of Secretary Henry Aguda and PCO Secretary Jay Ruiz. We discussed that the PCO will be in charge when it comes to) fact-checking,” he said.

“The discussion was baka hindi akma or hindi tama na ang gobyerno mismo ang mag-fact-check pero dapat mayroong sistema ng oversight. Kumbaga government will be the fact-checkers of the fact-checker. So, iyon ang pinag-aaralan nating sistema (The discussion yesterday was maybe, it is not appropriate or not right that the government itself should fact-check, but there should be a system of oversight. The government will be the fact-checkers of the fact-checker. So, that is the system we are studying),” he added.

Through the collaboration, the PCO would pinpoint what is fake news and only then would DICT take action through the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, which would hold the perpetrators accountable.