PCG asks US Embassy to help track FB hackers

Rear Admiral Armand Balilo, PCG spokesperson (FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has turned to the US Embassy for help in regaining access to its Facebook page after unknown perpetrators hacked its social media account again on Monday.

Rear Admiral Armand Balilo, the PCG spokesperson, said the US Embassy was working with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Philippine National Police in tracking down the hackers.

In a message to the Inquirer, Balilo said the PCG has been coordinating with Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to regain control over the account.

According to him, no private or confidential information has been stolen from the PCG social media accounts, although the hackers have posted at least 13 video clips on the agency’s Facebook page since the account was compromised at about 6 p.m. on Monday.

Balilo expressed concern that the hackers could post materials that were improper, indecent, or contain false information.

He admitted that the PCG remained clueless on who could be responsible for the hack.

READ: Hackers attack PH Coast Guard Facebook page; third this year

“The investigation is still ongoing and we have not yet recovered our Facebook. We are still coordinating with the DICT and the PNP cyberspace division,” Balilo said. “We do not have any solid basis to pinpoint who is behind all these attacks.”

He played down speculations that the hacking incidents were linked to the PCG’s intensified patrolling activities in the West Philippine Sea.

“As of now, we do not have concrete proof to [reach] that conclusion so it would be better for us to await the findings of the investigations which could hopefully pinpoint the culprits behind these attacks against the PCG,” Balilo said.

He also dismissed speculations that the hackers were trying to send messages through quotations embedded in the 13 movie clips they posted on the PCG Facebook account.

“Our assessment is that this latest attack is the work of ordinary hackers who have randomly picked the PCG website as their target,” he said.

Monday’s hacking incident was the third cyberattack against the PCG this year.

In January, the DICT said it was able to block cyberattacks “from within China” against the mailboxes and Google Workspaces of the PCG’s National Coast Watch.

On Feb. 15, the hackers also gained access to the PCG’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, wiping out its entire page content since, including its logo and profile picture, but this was “retrieved” about five hours later.

Both the hacking incidents on the PCG’s Facebook page and X account happened after the agency released photos and videos on China’s acts of aggression in the West Philippine Sea.