Ombudsman suspends DICT exec over alleged conflict in P1.5-B deal

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday said it ordered the preventive suspension of a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) undersecretary for alleged conflict of interest in contracts worth more than P1.5 billion.

In a seven-page order, the Ombudsman said it found sufficient grounds to place DICT Undersecretary for e-government David Almirol Jr. under preventive suspension for six months without pay over his alleged failure to divest from a company he founded before it won contracts from the agency.

“Almirol’s continued stay in office could prejudice the investigation, particularly given his control and custody of documents and evidence relevant to the case,” the Ombudsman said in a statement.

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The Ombudsman said “it found strong evidence supporting the administrative charges against Almirol” over grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and violation of Republic Act (RA) No. 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

According to the order, at least eight DICT contracts were awarded to companies with financial relationships with Multisys, a company founded by Almirol in 2010.

From November 2023 to May 2025, the agency awarded eight eGov-related contracts to Multisys and related companies “totaling to about P1.55 billion” per the order.

Furthermore, Almirol appears to have divested from the company only in November 2022, about three months after his appointment to the DICT in August that year, according to the order.

The Ombudsman said this exceeded the 60-day period from his assumption of office within which he was required to divest his business interests under Section 9 of RA No. 6713.

The order noted that Multisys’ General Information Sheet (GIS), notarized on Oct. 27, 2022 and received by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov. 2, 2022, showed that Almirol “was still listed as a stockholder of Multisys holding 49.21% of the stocks.” 

Almirol, the order said, was then removed from the list of Multisys stockholders only in a subsequent GIS notarized on Nov. 18, 2022 and received by the SEC on Nov. 21, 2022.

The complaints stemmed from a report by the DICT Internal Audit Unit in June 2025, which flagged “a possible conflict of interest involving the hiring of former Multisys personnel and the award of contracts to other related companies,” according to the Ombudsman. /das