Philippe: One innocent guy, who happens to be an AMA student at that time, created an I-love-you virus. It’s called an I-love-you virus, which is hence the love bug. And this was 25 years ago.
Mclaine: Wala na yatang hindi nakakakilala dun sa love bug niyan.
Philippe: Here’s the top headline. Republic of the Philippines love bug reeks.
Mclaine: 5.5 to 8.7 billion dollars.
Philippe: So we’re just going to give you a bit of context. The love bug was actually spread through email. Onel De Guzman was able to create this virus. Unintentional.
It was unintentional. I think this guy is a legend. I want to meet this guy. Let’s do a quick AI search. Where is Onel De Guzman now? Have you heard of the love bug? The I-love-you virus?
Mclaine: Wala na yatang hindi nakakakilala dun sa love bug niyan. That was way back 2000, diba?
Philippe: Mga Gen Z’s have to know about this. Kamag-anak mo ata to eh.
Mclaine: Oh really?
Philippe: Si Onel De Guzman.
Mclaine: Nako.
Philippe: Here’s the top headline. Republic of the Philippines love bug reeks. One billion dollars have it on the world’s computer. Pero on other news, hindi lang one billion. Ilan?
Mclaine: 5.5 to 8.7 billion dollars.
Philippe: It’s in the billions. And this was last May 5, the year 2000. 25 years ago.
Mclaine: Wow.
Philippe: Almost 26 years ago kasi malapit naman 2026. But imagine one innocent guy who happens to be an AMA student at that time created a I-love-you virus.
It’s called the I-love-you virus which is hence the love bug. And I think this is something to be proud of kasi dito sa article. Republic of the Philippines love bug reeks. 1B have it on the world’s computers. And then your first paragraph.
Philippe: The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, hence FBI, launched an internal hunt for the source of the love bug computer virus which spread finally having already infected millions of computers, millions of computer files worldwide.
Imagine na worldwide to. So we’re just going to give you a bit of context. Context here. The love bug was actually spread through email. And then somehow Onel was able to create this virus. Unintentionally. It was unintention.
Philippe: It wasn’t his intention to create a virus. But he was just playing around with the files. And Onel wasn’t really like, hindi naman sya nerd lang sya, student lang sya. He’s an AMA student. And we all know in AMA.
But we all study computer and programming and all that. He just tweaked a couple of files. And then he sent the file through email. Not knowing that whatever he tweaked in those files got infected. Infected the user’s computer.
Philippe: Whoever opened the email attachment. And then the specific task of that virus is, pag na-download mo, it infects your computer. It finds, not only it spreads, it finds your contacts in that email that you have.
Let’s say Yahoo ka. Or AOL or Gmail, whatever. It finds all the contacts. It sends that same virus. It replicates there. It sends it to all your contacts. And then when your contacts open, it spreads and it spreads and it spreads.
Mclaine: It’s a domino effect.
Philippe: Hindi lang domino. It’s a nuclear effect. It’s a very simple virus. But it got to manage to disrupt a lot of businesses. Apparently in the US. Kaya the FBI was looking for it.
Mclaine: But it says in the report, sabi eh, he sends the virus initially to someone in Singapore and then went out drinking with a friend. And then yun lang. It turned into chaos.
Imagine ganun lang, no? Sa simpleng pag-send mo ng file. Without knowing, no? I guess, like you said, hindi naman siya hacker. Hindi naman siya. Talagang nag-ano lang.
Philippe: Back to, apparently, thanks to the bug in Windows 95 that would run code in email attachments when the user clicked on them. So this was because if you were running a Windows 95 device or operating system on a laptop or personal computer, infected ka.
The year 2000, everything was Windows 95. Everything was, there was barely, kapunti lang yung market share ng Apple users at that time. It was dominated by Windows users. So yeah. Oh, 10 to 15 billion. Disrupt. He created a worm.
Philippe: It was very ano. And the main question here is, ito nakaka-proud kasi. You know in the movies, usually when they talk about hackers, and the FBI is looking for them, usually either Russian hacker, American hacker, China, North Korea.
Diba? I’m proud to say at least we have, we have a legend here, si Onel Guzman. Na parang the FBI was looking for him. Diba? At least we Filipinos can be proud for something that’s, that has a global impact.
Philippe: Diba? Ang nakakatuwa kasi now in these days, when you watch a movie, like a Netflix or a series, they know Filipinos as nurses, scammers. Yes. And comedians like Jokoy.
But at least with this, at least with this news, from time to time, if you hear like, it has a global impact. And plus, this guy only did it in his mom’s computer. Ginawa niya sa computer ng mommy niya at home.
Mclaine: So nakikigamit pa lang. Nakikigamit lang din siya ng computer.
Philippe: Yes. And take note, the year 2000, we weren’t so tech savvy at all. Wala pang NBI cybercrime, wala pa, we weren’t, we weren’t as tech savvy as these days. So I think, NBI coordinated with the FBI, and then, they found out it was Onel and all that.
I think, it wasn’t that fast. But they just tracked down yung, I think, malaking tulong yung Interpol and FBI just to train NBI what to do. Sad to say. Yeah, so there’s a big, there’s a big post here, Reddit about it. Ito ba yung panahon ng mga, floppy drives?
Mclaine: Floppy disks?
Philippe: Gosh. Imagine. To show intent, the NBI investigated AMA Computer College where Onel De Guzman had dropped out of the very end of this year. Gosh, nakaka-proud. If you’re an AMA, I would be proud if I was an AMA alumni on this.
Mclaine: Pero parang ano pa yun. Dapat nga kung AMA ka, medyo dapat, medyo, yun yung magiging standards mo.
Philippe: Diba?
Mclaine: How can I, diba, supersede yung capacity niya? Imagine mo siya, kung hindi naman siya gano’ng tech-savvy or hindi naman siya parang medyo geek na, alam naman natin, yung iba talagang super coder,
Talagang, tapos, simpleng ano lang, hindi kayo makapag, pero since, malaking factor din yung back then kasi hindi pa gano’ng kahigpit yung security ng software or ng OS. Kaya, unlike ngayon, talagang, before ka mag-send.
Philippe: It’s so hard to hack.
Mclaine: Ngayon pa lang. Ngayon pa lang mag-send ka pa lang ng ano eh. Attachment pa lang, failed na. Diba? So, either you use, zip mo pa, i-compress mo pa, i-convert mo pa, before mo ma-send.
Philippe: It’s weird. Meron nag-post dito. In May 2020, investigative journalist, Geoff White, revealed that, whilst researching his cybercrime, bookcrime.com, he had found Onel De Guzman working at a mobile phone repair stall in Manila.
So, years after, like two decades after, he’s just a repair guy, a phone repair guy. Sabi niya, with his smarts and wits, I thought he’d be working in a computer security company he wanted.
Mclaine: So, walang nag-ano sa kanya?
Philippe: I don’t know. Anyone has any context of where Onel is? But I think this guy is a legend. Oh, I want to meet this guy. He’s a legend.
But, there are rumors na, honestly, from what I heard, there are rumors na he got hired by the CIA. I don’t know. I don’t know. But, totoo ba ito? He’s just working in a phone repair shop? Parang very, ano naman.
Mclaine: Hindi ba yan ano lang? Front.
Philippe: Could be a front. Could be a front.
Mclaine: Pwede, para hindi siya masyadong, ano, diba, alam naman, it doesn’t matter when you watch a movie, diba, ah, this is Jollibee. Parang nagbebenta lang ng burger sa sidewalk.
Pero kita mo, pag open mo nung Jollibee stand, aw, awesome variety. You know, all the, ano, tech equipment that he has. Pero, well, if it happens in a movie, maybe it happens in the real world.
Philippe: Let’s do a quick AI search. Where is Onel De Guzman now in 2025? I wonder where this guy is.
Mclaine: I wonder what would Chad GPT would say. anong makukuha niya, details?
Philippe: Let’s see with Gemini.
Mclaine: Ah, yes, Gemini.
Philippe: After the global incident in 2000, which he was never prosecuted due to a lack of applicable cybercrime laws at the time, Digozman lay low for a period. He eventually returned to a computer-related work, but did not go back to college.
Instead, opening his repair business, he has expressed regret for creating the virus. An unwanted infamy, infamy, it brought him, preparing a shy in private life. This is a cover-up. I’m sure this guy is, there’s something beyond that story.
Philippe: There is something. You know, there are things that we can’t find on the internet. And, take note, there’s an article about, which was created this year, May 14. Let’s start, let’s see. In the morning, blah, blah, blah, blah.
So the love bug, where is he now? Spread by social engineering, computer science student with floppy disks. That was, tracking down de Guzman. About 20 years later, when White started researching, researching his book, Crime.com from viruses, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Philippe: Sabi niya, he’d been hanging around working at a market in Manila, working on a mobile phone stall in his marketplace, in this marketplace. White got word that de Guzman was fixing cellphones for a living.
He flew to Manila and scarred different markets for hours, armed only with a piece of paper with de Guzman’s name written on it. I shouldn’t face, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Philippe: Talaga mahiyanin siya. He only wanted internet access, that’s all. Kasi back then, users were charged for, iba, yung internet dun, it’s just only for the privilege, but he only wanted.
Mclaine: Ano ba internet that time?
Philippe: Dial up, 0.00 MBPS. So he only wanted to get on the internet. I don’t know. I think this is, maybe it’s true, maybe it’s a cover-up that he’s just, but I want to believe that this guy is doing amazing things, whether for us or outside.
Kasi last I heard, the CIA was, I don’t know, recruited him and he started programming and stuff, but from the story itself, he looks like a, which sells, looks like a geek, I’m a student, and you never know. Hanapin nga natin.
Philippe: Let’s look for Onel on Facebook. Maybe he’s on Facebook because this guy is a legend. Kamag-aanak mo to eh.
Mclaine: Kamag-anak if you’re watching this.
Philippe: Well apparently, madaming Onel de Guzman using his face.
Mclaine: Ah, okay.
Philippe: I’m telling you, the guy is a legend. I still see this guy as a legend and there’s one that works at hacking computers. Antipolo. Ah, geez. Well, wherever you are, Onel, if you watch this episode, I want to get you on the podcast.
We could talk about it, what happened. If this happened in 2025 with all the Facebook socials, I mean, back then, it was big, he was a legend. Imagine, I heard, while I was in high school, I hadn’t graduated yet, I heard of him.
Philippe: I was like, this guy, wow. That’s what I used to say, Filipinos are great, we’re hackers. I didn’t know that. It was in our blood. Right? I wish we could be, we could have that type of impression that Filipinos are hackers. But now, Filipinos are scammers.
Mclaine: Panget naman ng ano
Philippe: It is what it is. We can’t do anything about it. Yeah. On Eldie Guzman, if you’re around, he’s repairing, he’s repairing his phone, maybe, I don’t know. Maybe he’s inserting a virus. After like, after like a decade, he’ll be like, I’m back.
Mclaine: Part 2.
Philippe: Part 2.
Mclaine: Version 2.
Philippe: Then he’s repairing it because he’s, he hacked the Android and iOS.
Mclaine: Oh no.
Philippe: Then everything is going to be in his control. Oh geez.
Mclaine: And now, it’s through mobile phone. Oh.
Philippe: Everything is.
Mclaine: So, imagine how many people have mobile phone.
Philippe: And the information in it. And if he’s still a repair guy, maybe he created his own AI. The Love AI. You never know.
Mclaine: If he’s really that tech guy.
Philippe: Listen, deep inside me, I think he’s a very smart guy.
Mclaine: But it says on the report that he didn’t go back to school, right? He didn’t finish college?
Philippe: He was a dropout. He stopped going to college. He opened up a repair. I don’t, I think it’s a cover up. I think the guy is doing amazing things behind the curtains. He’s just shy. Most programmers are like that.
Mclaine: It’s true. Yung mga hindi nakakapag tapos yun yung mga nagiging successful. Remember, ikaw, you never finished?
Philippe: Never did.
Mclaine: Yeah.
Philippe: Never did.
Mclaine: But, look where you’re at right now.
Philippe: I wouldn’t say I’m, but, it doesn’t, you don’t need formal education to be stable and successful.
Mclaine: And right now, through the information system that we have, it’s very accessible. You have the YouTube University.
Philippe: Which is, which is, I don’t know. Before YouTube University, it was Internet University. Everything I learned, I reverse engineered. So, what was the point of finishing up?
But, the short story there was, I was a freshman for seven years. That’s the short story.The longest, the longest freshman in history of the world.
Mclaine: On your, on your part. I guess, maybe there are other, maybe someone mastered there for decades as a freshman.
Philippe: Yeah, but everyone has their own path, right? I believe right now that formal education is still needed, but needs to adapt to today’s technology, today’s information. You could learn how to cook, you could learn how to drive, you could learn how to do podcasts, you could learn how to do everything.
It used to be with YouTube University, now it’s AI University. Now, everything is within your hands. It’s up to you how you’re going to use it. Others, there are a lot of graduates who graduated, who graduated, what kind of graduate, but they end up corporate, they end up BPO, they end up somewhere, right?
Philippe: Not most can use what they have and become very successful. The target here is not to be very successful. The target here is successful within your needs because a successful person is able to provide to the family, is able to provide love and everything that the family needs and school and all that, right?
It doesn’t mean if you’re a cum laude, magna cum laude or any cum laude, you’re already successful. When you get to the real world, there it is. There it is. Let’s see if you’re a magna cum laude in corporations.
Mclaine: Anjan ang totoong laban
Philippe: Yes. Good topic. Onel, if you watch this, if you find any of these reels, longform, podcast, contact us. I’ll interview you at your phone stall. I know you’re doing something. Legendary.
Mclaine: Pa install kami
Philippe: Pa install kami Ay wag na wag na
Mclaine: Refer namin yung mga clients
Philippe: Alright.
