The website administrator for the Philippines’ House of Representatives isn’t having a good week. Hackers succeeded in hacking the House of Reps’ official website, and not just that, but they posted a huge trollface meme on the homepage, an incredibly retro move that feels very 2010 and undoubtedly adds insult to injury.


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The meme reads, “You’ve been hacked, you’ve been hacked, have a nice day,” while underneath, the text reads, “HAPPY APRIL FULLZ KAHIT OCTOBER PALANG! FIX YOUR WEBSITE HACKED BY ~3MUSKETEERZ.” The April Fools’ reference is slightly confusing considering it’s October, but Halloween is approaching, so maybe the House of Representatives opted for a trick instead of a treat.



In addition, according to Rappler, the House’s livestream was replaced by a dancing trollface video. Will the indignities never cease?


Unsurprisingly, the website is now under maintenance, and a spokesperson confirmed that the website experienced “unauthorized access” and that “immediate steps were taken to address the issue.”  



Several people were quick to compare the incident to a previous hack the House of Reps experienced back in October 2020. On October 12th of that year, their Twitter account tweeted a photo of a young girl pouting for the camera with the caption, “Only 6 hours until my BIRTHDAY!”


Either October is a terrible month for the Philippines House of Representatives, or this unidentified young girl is a fairly skilled hacker who is determined to remind everyone it’s her birthday a second time — maybe she didn’t get enough presents the first time around, à la Dudley Dursley.


Either way, the House of Representatives should probably invest in upgrading their cybersecurity — it’s not enough to sign up to Have I Been Pwned and call it a day. They should also seriously consider taking the month of October off entirely. Come back again in November refreshed and, hopefully, with much better luck.