Sotto unfazed by website hacking

Senate Majority Leader Vicente "Tito" Sotto III on Monday said he is not threatened by the recent hacking of his official website as a result of his comments on supposed cut on the budget of state universities and colleges (SUCs). "I am not threatened by this cheap shot. Kung mga drug lords hindi ako natakot, sila pa (If drug lords couldn't scare me, how could they)," Sotto, who was also former chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board, told GMANews.TV in a text message. He issued the statement after an unknown hacker defaced his website with a statement that poked fun at his statement that the students were protesting against ghost budget cuts. He explained that the budget of SUCs was not really cut and that the unused congressional insertions last year were just removed. Sotto said he has already received reports on who is behind the "malicious attacks" against him. "Obviously some people did not like my expose," he said. However, he refused to mention who are the supposed suspects behind the hacking and said that he will just continue to do his job as a senator. The Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges had earlier called on SUCs to stage more strikes against the budget cut. The biggest of these strikes is scheduled to be held on December 1 in front of the Senate. Senator Franklin Drilon, chairman of the Senate finance committee, said Malacañang had proposed a P21.72-billion budget for SUCs in 2011. He said the House of Representatives approved the P21.72 -billion allocation while the Senate is proposing a budget of P22.02 billion. The budget for SUCs in 2010 was P19.59 billion. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMANews.TV