DICT warns poll bets vs using illegal text blast devices to campaign

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) cautioned candidates for the 2025 elections against using illegal text blast devices to campaign.
The warning came during the DICT’s joint press conference at Camp Crame on Wednesday with the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP ACG), which announced the arrest of a Malaysian national allegedly selling a device commonly used to send fraudulent messages.
READ: Text blast device seized from nabbed Malaysian is a ‘new tech’– CICC
“The moment we monitor text blasters in operation and push for certain candidates, we can trace that,” Information and Communication Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy said in Filipino.
“The candidature of a candidate may be compromised because we will definitely confiscate that, file appropriate criminal charges, and perhaps file whatever charges we should do, even in the Commission on Elections,” he added.
Article continues after this advertisementUy said the type of equipment confiscated – also called an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) – was used in scamming operations posing as telecommunication companies, banks, and job recruiters.
Article continues after this advertisementBecause the text blaster machine can pose as certain senders, Uy also warned that candidates could falsely use the device on behalf of rivals.
“It can be used the other way. If I want my opponent to be attacked, I’d text blast using their name,” he said in Filipino.
“So, be alert and be more vigilant and more discerning in our choice of candidates,” he added.
The case of the Malaysian national involved a short message service (SMS) blaster machine that can mass broadcast without a database, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card or a Wi-Fi connection.
At the same press conference on Wednesday, Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) Executive Director Alexander Ramos noted that the device was mobile, small enough to be brought in a backpack.
Uy warned that because the device was mobile, it could be brought into public spaces such as malls and used to send fraudulent messages to thousands of people.
The arrested Malaysian national faces charges of violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act, the Philippine Radio Station and Radio Communication Act, the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act, and the Data Privacy Act.
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“If you resort to illegal means of doing your campaign, then that also shows the lack of virtue on the part of the candidate,” Uy said.
“If a candidate resorts to illegal means to campaign, the moment they win, that’d likely be their orientation in which they have no respect for the law, no respect for the security of our fellow countrymen,” he added.