PDEA-Western Visayas reports Facebook page hack

By Jennifer P. Rendon

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency – Western Visayas (PDEA-6) has reported suspected unauthorized access to its official Facebook account.

At approximately 6:16 a.m. on April 23, the PDEA Region VI Social Media Team detected signs of unauthorized activity on its page “PDEA Regional Office VI.”

The breach was discovered when the agency’s public information office was unable to post planned content based on the After Activity Report group chat submissions from April 22.

Ma. Graziella Tanaleon of PDEA-6 revealed that there have been ongoing attempts to compromise their Facebook account since February 2024.

“Irregularities during login attempts led to further examination, revealing posts not made by our team. Despite changing the password multiple times to enhance security, the breaches persisted,” she explained.

The agency’s IT personnel have ruled out internal technical problems as the cause, suggesting the issue originated externally. Efforts to regain full control over the page are ongoing.

Tanaleon emphasized the detrimental impact of this incident on the agency’s mission to convey critical updates and alerts regarding drug enforcement in the region.

When queried about the possible motive behind the cyber attack, she speculated that it could relate to ‘monetization’ schemes.

The PDEA-6 Facebook page currently boasts over 32,000 followers.