The extrajudicial confession of a data officer that Manila Bulletin tech editor Art Samaniego ordered him to “test the vulnerabilities of websites and mobile apps,” which means hacking them, is so serious that the newspaper’s only option at the moment is to suspend Samaniego, who is said to be very close to the management.
Samaniego is now being quizzed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), with Atty. Jeremy Lotoc, chief of the NBI’s Cybercrime Division, confirming that the confession is material to determining whether Samaniego had been profiting from hacking operations, contrary to his claim that he is cybersecurity officer who has been gunning after hackers. “Base sa extrajudicial confession ng hacker, galing daw sa editor ang direksyon kung ano ang iha-hack at pagkatapos ma-hack, ‘yung editor na raw ang bahala mag-exploit kung ano ang gagawin niya,” Lotoc said.
Lotoc noted that the NBI discovered that it was always Samaniego who scooped the others on hackling incidents. In short, he had a direct line to the hackers, if not the director of the scheme. He said the pattern was palpable and became even worse when the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the National Security Council (NSC) were hacked at the instance of Samaniego. The NBI official stressed that hackers alleged that Samaniego pays them for their work. The confessing Manila Bulletin data officer had been employed by the newspaper for the past five years to protect its website. The hacker and two others were arrested by the NBI as they planned to hack a company known as “Belo.”
Apart from the AFP and the NSC, the hacker said Samaniego also instructed him to test the vulnerability of the 1Sambayan mobile app and he promptly did so, securing data about 2,000 volunteer to the 1Sambayan, a political coalition comprised of members of the opposition during the 2022 election. The hacker said he came to know Samaniego during his Pinoy LulzSec days. “I will send him details of my exploit, explaining how I did it, and show him proof of concept to prove that hacking occurred and that I was the one who did it. I will send the database and its severity, and in turn, he will write an article about it,” he admitted.
Samaniego has denied the allegations, saying he has been at one with the government in fighting cybercrime. The Manila Bulletin said: “As a responsible corporate citizen, the Manila Bulletin has always adhered to the laws of the land and requires its employees to be accorded their rights. We assure the public of the Manila Bulletin’s utmost fidelity to the laws of the land.” It did not say that it is also investigating Samaniego, a long-time employee and former secretary to the retired Bulletin vice president for advertising Paciencia Pineda. Neither did it suspend him nor tell the NBI that the newspaper would cooperate in ferreting out the truth and not rely on Samaniego’s motherhood. Since he was not really trained as a journalist, Samaniego has been criticized for his failure to communicate and for tying himself in knots when he is asked to explain information technology issues.
Yet, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Samaniego had been caught with his fingers in the cookie jar nearly 20 years ago and charged with launching cyberattacks against private websites. In 2005, Samaniego and Tridel Technologies Inc., launched “vulnerability tests” on INQ7 Interactive, a joint venture between the Inquirer and GMA 7 designed to integrate print, television, radio and other media to deliver content on the web. Samaniego and Tridel were accused of violating Republic Act No. 8792 (RA 8972), or the Philippine Electronic Commerce Act, which penalizes unauthorized access to networks and computers. The case was eventually settled out of court in 2006. Both accused issued their own public apologies for the hacking that the Manila Bulletin also carried, to the discomfiture of its real editors and deskmen.
So there. Samaniego has become a recidivist, and his firm confirmed hacking misadventure is celebrating its 20th anniversary next year. How long will the Manila Bulletin, which once held a lofty perch in the industry, condone Samaniego? On the most fortunate event that the Yap family, which controls Bulletin, investigates Samaniego from the time he took over the Tech section of the newspaper, it may just find out hundreds of skeletons in Samaniego’s closet. But then, the Yaps may just confess: “We’re not perfect.” It’s business as usual, folks.
Yet, Samaniego may be more equal than others as Bulletin staffers admit. One ambitious deskman wrote a wrong caption on a photo showing Kris Aquino before the casket of her mother, former President Cory Aquino, and declared that the deceased was President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The paper apologized but the deskman was hardly reprimanded. In another case, the newspaper found out that one overrated deskman launched a campaign in the newspaper against a businessman and used a correspondent to write his screeds. The correspondent told the truth and the deskman evaporated, only to be resurrected as PR man of an equally notorious government office.
