Executive Order No. 84-A

Executive Order No. 84-A
Series of 2005

Whereas, Ordinance No. 24 Series of 2004 was passed by the Sangguniang Panlungsod entitled an Ordinance Creating the Local Telecommunications and Information Technology Board and defining their Jurisdiction, Powers and Duties;

Whereas, Section 2 of Ordinance 24 decrees the composition of the Local Telecommunications and Information Technology Board without naming the persons composing the board;

Whereas, Executive Order No. 84, Series of 2004 was issued on December 10, 2004 enumerating the composition of the Board;

Whereas, there is an urgent need to reconstitute and add members to the Board owing to the departure of some of its members;

Now, Therefore, I, James J. Gordon, Jr; Mayor of Olongapo City, by the powers vested in me by law, hereby reconstitute and add membership of the local Telecommunications and Information Technology Board as follows:

1. Hon Edwin J. Piano, Chairman
City Councilor
2. Hon Marey Beth D. Marzan, Vice-Chairman for IT
City Councilor
3. Hon. Gina G. Perez, Vice-Chairman for Telecommunications
City Councilor
4. Mr. Leonardo C. Perez, Member
Telecommunication Expert
5. Engr. German E. Ebue, Member
Electronics and Telecommunication Expert
6. Atty. Angelito R. Orozco, Member
City Legal Officer
7. Mr. Danilo J. Piano, Member
IT Expert
8. Mr. Jerico C. Ballon, Board Secretariat
9. Mr. Jamir C. Comendador, Board Secretariat

Further designate the following as ex-officio members of the said Board:

1. Arch. Tony-Kar Balde III, Head City Planning and Development Office
2. Mr. Eduardo M. Santos, Engineering Office
3. Mr. Sunny G. Basobas, Head, MIS Office
4. Mr. Oscar Agustin, City Assessors Office
5. Mr. Marcelino D. Andawi, City Treasurer’s Office
6. Mr. Emmanuel Ramos, Business Permit Office
7. Engr. Oliver Macaspac, National Telecommunications Commission RO3
8. Mr. Jose Ma. Abola, Jr., Representing Private Telecom Sector
9. Mr. Gary Marasigan, President of OCCSA
10. Representative from Local Radio Amateur and Civic Communications Group
11. Representative From Public Utilities Department
12. Representative from Mobile Phone Dealers and Service Centers

The duties and functions of the members of Local Telecommunications and Information Technology Board are detailed in Ordinance No. 24 Series of 2004 and in the Board’s Internal Rules.

Done in Olongapo City this 28th day of April 2005

JAMES GORDON, JR.
City Mayor

Attest:


DELFIN A. JUICO JR.
Secretary to the Mayor

Cybercrime costs billions but how to report it?

AMSTERDAM - Cybercrime costs societies billions of dollars every year, but it is not easy for European citizens to report that their digital identity has been stolen, according to anti-virus software companies and police.

Britain's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) three weeks ago estimated the nation's cost of computer crime at $4.7 billion a year. Yet common computer break-ins such as hacking, phishing and identity theft must be reported to the local police.

Britain's police offer online forms for citizens to report "non-emergency minor crimes" including theft, criminal vandalism and damage to motor vehicles, but there is no special category for computer crime.

Elsewhere in Europe, citizens are also mostly referred to local police forces to report these crimes.

"It really is a problem. These crimes are global, but citizens work with local police. Most of the police are trained to catch bank robbers rather than Internet robbers," said Mikko Hypponen at anti-virus company F-Secure in Finland, where citizens have to report to local police.

Dutch police have admitted that most are ill equipped to deal with cybercrime.

"Victims of high-tech crime experience this every day," wrote Pascal Hetzscholdt, policy adviser of the Dutch police's digital investigation unit, in a recent article for a police detectives magazine.

"When reporting a crime, they find that the police have big problems with taking and processing the technical aspects of the incident. Police and the public prosecution also have trouble estimating the importance," Hetzscholdt said.

Weak police skills lead to low interest, others say.

"The police are not interested, because there are too many viruses, the subject is too complicated and the chances are slim that the police will catch somebody," said senior technology consultant Graham Cluley at British anti-virus firm Sophos. Without details from victims of computer crimes, furthermore, investigators and prosecutors find it more difficult to seek appropriate punishment for the offenders.

An NHTCU spokeswoman said every local police force in Britain had a computer crime unit, while recognizing it was essential "we have to keep training to keep up with the pace."

British police said computer crimes need to be reported to local police but would be passed on to a specialized unit if needed.

To report unsolicited email, which for many office workers can run into the dozens or hundreds every day, British citizens need to download, print and fill in one form for every single spam message and send it in the mail.

"It's not grown-up at the moment," Sophos's Cluley said.

In the United States, in contrast with the European situation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at least operates a national Internet Fraud Complaint Center, to which businesses and citizens can report cybercrimes (www.ifccfbi.gov).

PLDT raises constitutional issues with NTC VoIP draft rules

By Erwin Lemuel Oliva, INQ7.net

THE NATIONAL Telecommunications Commission (NTC) draft rules on voice over Internet Protocol may be "unconstitutional," the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) said on Monday.

VoIP routes phone calls through the Internet instead of through traditional public switched telephone networks. Its lower cost has made it a popular alternative to traditional voice calls.

According to Rogelio Quevedo, PLDT’s head of regulatory affairs, the current draft rules go against provisions of the Philippine Constitution that limit the operation of public utilities to Filipino nationals.

He cited section 11, article 12 of the Constitution, which states: "no franchise, certificate, or any other form of authorization for the operation of a public utility shall be granted except to citizens of the Philippines or to corporations or associations organized under the laws of the Philippines at least sixty per centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens..."

As public utilities offering basic telecom services, telecommunications companies are required to abide by this nationality requirement, Quevedo said.

Last month, the NTC issued its draft rules that defined VoIP as a valued-added service (VAS), which would effectively allow even entities without congressional franchises to offer the service. The classification has put local Internet service providers and traditional telecommunications companies at loggerheads.

Quevedo said that NTC's rules "might unwittingly allow the entry of foreign players by circumventing the constitutional provision which limits the operation of public utilities to Filipino citizens or corporations at least 60-percent owned by Filipinos."

The PLDT lawyer believes that there is still confusion over what VoIP actually is. "The NTC draft considers VoIP a value-added service. But VoIP is more correctly seen as a technology that allows operators to deliver various services, including a basic telecommunications service like voice. Just like different cellular technologies like GSM, CDMA or analog technologies like TACS can deliver various services including voice. The confusion stems from the fact that VoIP is being interchanged with the Internet.

"What matters is that under our Constitution, only Filipino nationals and corporations at least 60-percent owned by Filipinos granted a congressional franchise can provide basic telecommunications services like voice," he stressed.

By proposing that any person or entity can provide VoIP to the public for a fee provided only that they register with the commission, the NTC draft rules would likely contravene both the Constitution and the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines, the PLDT lawyer said.

Under the Act, only entities granted a franchise by Congress can offer voice telecommunications services.

Prior to the new rules, VoIP was classified a voice service, making companies that provided it commercially subject to the Act’s provisions (though companies were permitted to make use of VoIP for private networks).

The new NTC draft rules identify the parties allowed to offer VoIP services, as well as standard agreements between telecommunications carriers and ISPs on service performance standards, interconnection charges, access costs, and consumer security and privacy.

The NTC has scheduled a public hearing on its VoIP draft rules on May 3

Lawmaker wants tougher penalties for purveyors of cybersex

By Erwin Lemuel Oliva, INQ7.net

A CONGRESSMAN has recently sought tougher penalties for operators of cybersex dens in the Philippines.

Alarmed by what he describes as "the growing epidemic of online sex addiction," Representative Joseph Santiago of Catanduanes has filed a bill suggesting a 15-year prison term and one million-peso fine for operators of cybersex dens.

His bill also sought stiffer punishment against "employees" of cybersex operators. They, too, will face 12 years in prison and a fine of up to 500,000 pesos.

"We are gravely worried that going forward, as the country's Internet users increase, illicit cybersex activities will also proliferate," said Santiago, a former commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission, in a statement.

"Cybersex operators corrupt and prostitute our women and children. They should be dealt with severely. They deserve no leniency," the lawmaker added.

By cybersex, Santiago was referring to sexual acts performed by men and women, and even some children, before a web camera that stream the images directly to the computers of paying Internet users here and abroad.

Cybersex can also refer to individuals conversing in an online chat room for the purposes of sexual arousal.

Cybersex fiends lure mostly women and young girls, including those from the provinces, into performing the sexual acts for a fee, he said.

Santiago said that research shows that some 15 percent of Internet users have visited online sex chat rooms and pornographic sites.

He also cited a separate study showing that nearly nine percent of users of the Internet for sex spend more than 11 hours a week surfing for erotic content.

The number of Internet users in the Philippines will hit 20 million by 2007, according to the technology research outfit International Data Corp.

A separate study by ACNielsen said that some four million Filipinos now spend more than two hours daily surfing the Internet, double the two million in 2002.