GCash tightens grip on suspicious transactions

RAYLEEN MORALES about 1 in 5 Filipinos use digital payments to transact money

According to initial investigations by GCash, a scammer was behind the suspicious transactions involving several GCash accounts from May 8 to 9.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) on May 10, GCash Vice President for Corporate Communications Gilda Maquilan said the scammer phished user information. They utilized a deceptive link, commonly known as clickbait, which, when clicked, grants them unauthorized access to the user’s device.

“When you are able to link that, you can make your transaction. You have to have the MPIN, and you have to have the OTP, which the fraudster was able to acquire,” Maquilan said in the interview on ANC’s Headstart.

Las Piñas City National Science High School Grade 12 student Derek Puertollano expressed his dismay when he found deductions to his money in his GCash account.

“I think I lost around P410 with that scam,” Puertollano said.

“It’s definitely a lesson learned,” he added.

As GCash conducted a “preventive maintenance” to investigate and restore account balance of affected users, the app remained inaccessible for several hours and only returned online on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 19.

Source: Statista, 2020

Water Provider Maynilad advised six barangays in Las Piñas City about an upcoming water interruption from May 25 to May 26 in a Facebook post on Sunday, May 21.

In a Facebook post, Maynilad named parts of Almanza Uno, Almanza Dos, Pilar, Talon Dos, Talon Tres, and the whole barangay of Talon Singko will experience a water service interruption for a specific number of hours.

Encounters of Las Piñas residents

6 barangays to experience water interruptions from May 25 to 26

This was brought upon by scheduled repair of leaking ultrafiltration backwash valve at the Putatan Water Treatment Plant 2 in Barangay Putatan, Muntinlupa City.

Talon Dos resident Althea David expressed her disappointment in the announcement.

“I feel dissatisfied because it’s very inconvenient to collect water especially when I rely so

RAYLEEN MORALES much on it to clean, wash, and cook,” David said.

“We also have a water supply business so this affects our livelihood immensely,” she added.

The upcoming interruption is the third of its kind in the month of May alone with the previous two alluded to facility maintenance and leak reparations in the Putatan Water Treatment Plant 2.

POWERLESS AND PARCHED. Inconvenience grips Metro Manila as water supply disruptions cause widespread challenges.

52%

Source: Water.org, 2022

18.8%

THE STATUS QUO of Filipinos lack access to reliable and safe sources of water increase in average electricity consumption per household in the Philippines (2022)

Source: PSA, 2022