Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. ____ 
Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR. AND 
HON. BRIAN RAYMUND S. YAMSUAN 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
This measure seeks to include economic sabotage, in relation to phishing and other forms of 
fraudulent scheme, as punishable acts under Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime 
Prevention Act, and provide penalties for the commission of the same.  
Phishing is a social engineering scheme which obtains or attempts to obtain personal, 
sensitive financial information and electronic credentials by disguising itself as a trustworthy 
entity to illegally access a victim's online account for financial gain.  
In 2019, around 217,600 phishing incidents were reported, with NCR recording the highest of 
approximately 58,200 victims, followed by Regions 3 and 4-A.1 However, National Bureau of 
Investigation NBI-Cyber Crimes Division (NBI-CCD) Senior Agent Francis Señora said that 
reports of phishing cases to the agency have increased by more than 200% beginning March 
when the lockdown was implemented.2  
Phishing is the top cybercrime being committed in the country during the pandemic, followed 
by online selling scams and the proliferation of misinformation that cause panic among the 
public. The increase in crimes committed in cyberspace was expected considering that direct 
personal interactions are reduced. 
Through this bill, steps are taken to ensure that technology is not exploited to perpetuate 
crimes and put Filipino consumers at a disadvantage. 
In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this bill is most earnestly sought. 
LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR. 
BRIAN RAYMUND S. YAMSUAN 
1 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1136171/philippines-number-phishlng-incidents-by-region/ 
2 https://www.rappier.com/business/coronavirus-pandemic-lets-loose-scammers-phiIippines  
May 9, 2023
8:00 am
7976


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. ____ 
Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR. AND 
HON. BRIAN RAYMUND S. YAMSUAN 
AN ACT 
DEFINING ECONOMIC SABOTAGE IN COMPUTER-RELATED OFFENSES AND 
AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10175, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE 
"CYBERCRIME PREVENTION ACT OF 2012" 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:  
Section 1. Section 2 of Republic Act No. 10175 is hereby amended to read as follows: 
"Section 2. Declaration of Policy. — The State recognizes the vital role of 
information and communications industries such as content production, 
telecommunications, broadcasting electronic commerce, and data processing, in 
the nation's overall social and economic development. The State also recognizes 
the importance of providing an environment conducive to the development, 
acceleration, and rational application and exploitation of information and 
communications technology (ICT) to attain free, easy, and intelligible access to 
exchange and/or delivery of information; and the need to protect and safeguard 
the integrity of computer, computer and communications systems, networks, and 
databases, and the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information and 
data stored therein, from all forms of misuse, abuse, and illegal access by making 
punishable under the law such conduct or conducts. THE STATE LIKEWISE 
ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE CAPACITY OF INFORMATION AND 
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY TO BE USED AS A MEANS OF 
PERPETRATING CRIME IN BULK AND AT A SCALE PREVIOUSLY 
UNHEARD OF, HAS BEEN EXPLOITED BY CRIMINALS AND CRIMINAL 
7976


SYNDICATES 
IN 
PERPETRATING 
FRAUDULENT 
ACTIVITIES 
TO 
UNDERMINE THE TRUST OF THE PUBLIC IN THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES 
AND THE EMERGING NEW ECONOMY IT SUPPORTS. DUE TO THIS 
DELETERIOUS EFFECT ON THE ECONOMY, THE STATE DECLARES THAT 
THE COMMISSION OF CERTAIN CRIMES UNDER THIS ACT USING 
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY IS A FORM OF 
ECONOMIC SABOTAGE AND A HEINOUS CRIME AND SHALL BE 
PUNISHABLE TO THE MAXIMUM LEVEL ALLOWED BY LAW. In this light, 
the State shall adopt sufficient powers to effectively prevent and combat such 
offenses by facilitating their detection, investigation, and prosecution at both the 
domestic and international levels, and by providing arrangements for fast and 
reliable international cooperation."  
 
Sec. 2. Section 3 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:  
 
"Section 3. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Act, the following terms 
are hereby defined as follows:  
 
XXX 
 
C) BULK EMAIL MASS MAILER REFERS TO A SERVICE OR SOFTWARE 
USED TO SEND ELECTRONIC MAIL IN MASS.  
 
XXX 
(O) PHISHING REFERS TO A SOCIAL ENGINEERING SCHEME TO OBTAIN 
OR ANY ATTEMPT TO OBTAIN SENSITIVE INFORMATION SUCH AS 
USERNAMES, PASSWORDS, BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS, CREDIT CARD, 
DEBIT 
CARD, 
AND 
E-WALLET 
INFORMATION 
AMONG 
OTHER 
ELECTRONIC CREDENTIALS BY DISGUISING AS A TRUSTWORTHY 
ENTITY IN AN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF 
ILLEGALLY ACCESSING A VICTIM'S ONLINE ACCOUNT FOR FINANCIAL 
GAIN.  
 
XXX" 


 
Sec. 3. Section 4 (b) of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:  
 
"Section 4. Cybercrime Offenses. — The following acts constitute the offense of 
cybercrime punishable under this Act:  
 
XXX 
 
(b) Computer-related Offenses:  
 
XXX 
 
(4) ECONOMIC SABOTAGE - ANY OFFENSE PERPETRATED UNDER THIS 
SUBSECTION USING A BULK E-MAIL, MASS MAILER OR ANY SERVICE, 
SOFTWARE, OR OTHER METHOD OF DELIVERY CALCULATED TO 
UTILIZE THE MASSIVE REACH OF THE INTERNET TO REACH THE 
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF VICTIMS, PURSUANT TO A "PHISHING" OR 
OTHER SIMILAR FRAUDULENT SCHEME, SHALL BE PUNISHED AS AN 
ACT OF ECONOMIC SABOTAGE."  
 
Sec. 4. Section 8 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:  
 
Section 8. Penalties. Any person found guilty of any of the punishable acts 
enumerated in Sections 4(a) and 4(b) of this Act shall be punished with 
imprisonment of prison mayor or a fine of at least two hundred thousand pesos 
(PhP200,000.00) up to a maximum amount commensurate to the damage 
incurred or both.  
 
Any person found guilty of the punishable act under Section 4(a)(5) shall be 
punished with imprisonment of prison mayor or a fine of not more than Five 
hundred thousand pesos (PhP500,000.00) or both.  
 
If punishable acts in Section 4 (a) are committed against critical infrastructure, 
the penalty of reclusion temporal or a fine of at least Five hundred thousand 


pesos (PhP500,000.00) up to maximum amount commensurate to the damage 
incurred or both, shall be imposed.  
 
ANY PERSON FOUND GUILTY OF AN OFFENSE THAT CONSTITUTES 
ECONOMIC SABOTAGE UNDER SECTION 4(B)(4) SHALL BE PUNISHED 
WITH LIFE IMPRISONMENT AND A FINE OF NOT LESS THAN ONE MILLION 
PESOS (Pl/000/000.00) BUT NOT MORE THAN FIVE MILLION PESOS 
(P5,000,000.00).  
XXX." 
 
Sec. 5. Separability Clause. – If any separable provision of this Act is declared 
unconstitutional, the remaining provisions shall continue to be in force.  
 
Sec. 6. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations 
or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed, amended or 
modified accordingly.  
 
Sec. 7. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in 
the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
Approved,