Negros Occidental’s provincial government is seeking to regain control of its official Facebook page, which was hacked on Monday, October 21, showing photos of half-naked women on its stories.

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said in an interview that they have referred the matter to the Information and Communications Technology Division, which began the process of retrieving access to the page.

“They have experience in how to do that. I’m confident they will recover the Facebook page of the province,” he added.

The “Provincial Government of Negros Occidental” page, which posts updates on the activities of Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and the province, has 183,000 followers.

Diaz said they are aware that similar incidents had happened with the Facebook pages of other local government units.

“This is the first time our Facebook page has been hacked. We are also equipped to resolve the matter. Hackers have a way of going around the system, so we just have to respond and again try to minimize situations that could happen again,” he said.

In August last year, hackers also gained unauthorized access to the Facebook page of former Negros Occidental 3rd District Representative Jose Francisco Benitez and uploaded videos of “hot movies.”

Two days later, Benitez’s office announced that access to the “Cong. Kiko Benitez” page was “successfully reinstated to administrators” through the efforts of Meta Philippines Representative Office’s Public Policy Team in Manila.

Around the same time last year, the Facebook pages of Bacolod City’s “Masskara Festival,” Cadiz City local government unit’s “Biliz Cadiz, Ugyon Cadiznon,” and the “Municipality of E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental” were also hacked. (PNA)