MORE PERSONAL documents and transactions can soon be processed through the government’s official mobile application as President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. seeks to expand its services, a decision made despite concerns over the country’s vulnerability to cyberattacks.
During his fourth State of the Nation Address, Marcos enumerated additional functions and services available that the administration seeks to add to the eGovPH app including the procurement of a National Bureau of Investigation clearance, a typical requirement in job applications.
“Gamit ang app, maaari nang gawin at ayusin ang sari-saring mga serbisyo at proseso ng pamahalaan na dati ay pinipilahan pa natin,” the President said on Monday, July 28, at the Batasang Pambansa Complex.
(Using the app, [users] will be able to access the different administrative services and processes we used to wait in line for.)
Management of BEEP cards for payment in the Light Rail Transit and Manila Metro Rail Transit System and the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s e-TIN for taxpayers will also soon be available through the app, along with easier access to his administration’s Medical Assistance Program, he added.
The current version of the app allows Filipinos to renew their driver’s licenses, apply for valid IDs such as the National ID, and access the services of various government insurance agencies, such as the Philippines Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
eGovPH, which was launched in 2024, also permits overseas Filipino workers and job applicants to process their immigration and customs papers and register their bio-data.
Cybersecurity issues
The move came as several private and public institutions in the country face cybersecurity threats in their digital platforms, with consumer group CitizenWatch urging the President to veto the “Konektadong Pinoy” bill, which seeks to enhance internet connectivity and digital infrastructures across the country.
CitizenWatch raised that the bill lacks protection against possible data breaches and foreign interference, which may potentially “undermine public safety.”
Earlier this month, the Department of Information and Communications Technology assured Filipinos that the bill includes security checks and monitoring measures and would not compromise cybersecurity.
Only 6% of Philippine organizations were deemed a “mature” level for cybersecurity readiness in 2025 by Cisco, an international network security firm.
Just this year, several government agencies suffered over 230 data breaches from January to April, according to the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).
The names of the specific compromised sites were not disclosed due to their supposed “top-level” status.
NICA Deputy Director General Ashley Acedillo also reported that sensitive information across 32 agencies were leaked to the dark web in a separate attack.
According to Information and Communications department chief Ivan John Uy, administrative agencies are “constantly under attack from different sectors, from hackers, from scammers.”
The country’s top online payment platforms, also fell victims to cybersecurity risks. Last year, Filipinos reported unauthorized transactions and missing funds in the popular e-wallet platforms GCash and PayMaya.
Lawmakers have previously called for policies that would regulate these financial platforms and sanction online scams, citing the “growing” risks and complications that “threaten the earnings of mobile financial service users.”
“We urgently need upgraded policies to ensure that mobile financial service providers and fintech firms observe the necessary level of care and accountability in handling digital transactions,” Sen. Risa Hontiveros said in a Senate investigation on complaints against Gcash.
Earlier this month, UST began requiring Thomasians to set up a multi-factor authentication for their Google accounts as an additional security measure after several webpages under UST’s official domain ust.edu.ph were redirecting users to online gambling and e-sabong sites.
The University of the Philippines (UP) encountered a similar issue in May where the webpages of its various branches led to different betting platforms, UP Diliman’s publication The Philippine Collegian reported.
In January this year, the websites of several schools in the country, including the University of Santo Tomas, were temporarily inaccessible due to heavy load on the “edu.ph” domain’s servers. F
