‘Alarming’ use of emergency alert system denounced
SENATOR Grace Poe has called on government agencies and telecommunications companies to act swiftly following reports of the Emergency Cell Broadcast System (ECBS) being used to send political campaign messages.
In a statement dated April 7, Poe said: “The use of Emergency Cell Broadcasting System (ECBS) for political campaign is alarming and must be stopped.”
The ECBS is a platform used to deliver urgent public alerts during emergencies such as typhoons, earthquakes, and other disasters. Recently, there were reports from several provinces of ECBS alerts allegedly containing campaign-related messages, prompting concerns from the public and officials.
Poe highlighted potential risks linked to the misuse of the system.
“The incident does not only compromise the integrity of the emergency alert system, but may also pose threats to our safety and security as hackers may use this to broadcast fake news,” she said.
She urged responsible agencies and telecommunications firms to assess and strengthen the infrastructure of the ECBS to avoid future misuse.
“Concerned government agencies and telecommunications firms must seriously address this vulnerability in the system infrastructure to prevent further exploitation by those with evil intentions,” Poe said.
She also called for accountability measures: “Authorities must also run after the hackers and charge them.”
While refraining from assigning blame to specific individuals or groups, Poe encouraged all candidates to promote responsible campaigning.
“Without accusing anyone guilty, we hope candidates can rein in their supporters to campaign fairly and honestly as we all want clean and credible elections,” she added.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) have initiated inquiries into the reported misuse. Telecommunications companies have stated that ECBS is only intended for emergency notifications and that they have not used it for political messaging.
Government officials have also reiterated that the unauthorized use of text blast equipment for campaigning may violate existing telecommunications and election-related regulations. Investigations are ongoing.
