DOJ to launch nat'l crime IT system, mulls 'cybercrime office'

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Friday that it is seriously considering the creation of an "Office for Cybercrime" to address the proliferation of IT-related crimes. At the same time, the agency said it is now putting the final touches on a new crime information network which will interconnect the government’s various investigatory and law enforcement agencies. "We’re currently coordinating with the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) for this," she said during the 2nd International Conference on Cybercrime held at the Mandarin Hotel in Makati City.

The 2nd International Conference on Cybercrime, held at the Mandarin Hotel in Makati on Friday, attracts a star-studded cast from the private and public sector. Discussing the urgency of cybercrime-related concerns such as enforcement and legislation are (from left) CICT chair Ivan Uy, DOJ secretary Leila de Lima, Senate S&T chair Edgardo J. Angara, House ICT committee chair Siegfrido Tinga, and Microsoft director of pubic safety Michael Wilks. Photo: Newsbytes.ph

The justice chief said the cybercrime office will coordinate and probably share investigatory tasks with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), an attached unit under the DOJ, which also has its own division called "cyber center." De Lima also revealed that the DOJ will "soon" launch the National Justice Information System (NJIS) that will replace the National Crime Information System (NCIS) which the previous administration started but did not finish. The NJIS, she stressed, will also contain a national database of convicted offenders for easy tracking and reference for the public and among different agencies. De Lima said the department would is also currently implementing the full rollout of its "electronic case monitoring" to allow prosecutors and the public in general to monitor pending cases. De Lima, whose office organized the cybercrime office together with the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), pressed for the passage of the cybercrime bill currently pending in Congress to address the “changing crime terrain". She, however, cited the efforts of Senate S&T committee chair Edgardo Angara and House ICT chair Siegfrido Tinga, who also attended the event, in pushing for the approval of the proposed law. De Lima, who read her speech in an iPad, said various IT initiatives have also been initiated within the DOJ. "For instance, our offices now have WiFi. We also have Facebook and Twitter accounts," she said. — Newsbytes.ph