LAST Sept. 17, Information and Communication Technology Secretary Henry Aguda walked away from the budget hearing in Congress disappointed after lawmakers decided to defer approval of the more than P18-billion budget he requested for his department’s operations next year.
Clearly, Congress is not convinced of the plans he laid out, especially in solving the problem of cybercrimes where he allegedly failed to present a convincing approach to strengthening the government’s regulatory measures and enforcement metrics to combat all sorts of digital fraud to include the purported proliferation of fake and misleading news that directly attack President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The next whammy came the following morning with the news that the Ombudsman has commenced its investigation of the Department of Information and Communication Technology’s (DICT) “Free Wi-Fi Project,” a scandal that has been hounding the department since its formation in 2016.
As Assistant Ombudsman and spokesman Mico Clavano told the media, the investigation would focus on an alleged scheme where contractors take advantage of “gaps” in the DICT’s “technical inspection.” In other words, did the DICT undertake “due diligence” in ensuring the physical delivery of hardware and components? Were they in accordance with the prescribed standards? More importantly, were those Free Wi-Fi sites supposedly spread all over the country — which even President Marcos touted as among his “legacy programs” for Filipinos — actually in operation? There is also the issue of “overbilling” in relation to the project where the Ombudsman wants to know who in the DICT signed and approved the contracts. This, of course, is to pinpoint those who should be hauled before the Sandiganbayan for trial.
Well, Clavano should be enlightened to know about the Senate hearing presided over by Sen. Loren Legarda last Oct. 22, just days after Secretary Agudo’s confirmation.
Senator Legarda confronted Aguda over the alleged “tongpats” in the billing to the internet service provider (ISP) for the free Wi-Fi project in her province of Antique.
Based on her information, the DICT was paying P96,000 per month to the ISP while the record that Aguda brought with him only showed the amount of P26,000 per month, or a “four times disparity,” as Senator Loren noted.
It can be safely surmised that what happened in Antique may have been duplicated many times over in other parts of the country with the amount bilked out of the public treasury still to be accounted for.
That Secretary Aguda failed to address the government-paid “ghost” internet sites since the project’s launch in 2021 and since his assumption last October, is shown not only in the Ombudsman’s focused interest on the issue and in the lukewarm response of lawmakers to his budget proposal. Clearly, had he acted on this issue decisively, he would not be where he is right now: in a very tight fix. Has he reached the limit of his competence by now? But there is more. We have it on good information that “concerned telecom stakeholders” sent a “White Paper” to President Marcos through Budget Secretary Kim Robert de Leon last Aug. 25, calling attention to Aguda’s appointment of his UP Sigma Rho fraternity brother, lawyer Leonido Jimenez Pulido III, as DICT undersecretary in charge of procurement.
Whether Secretary de Leon had already acted on the letter by way of an investigation, no one seems to know. The letter’s contents, however, are quite interesting as it is claimed that Secretary Aguda entrusted the DICT’s multibillion procurement and acquisition process to Undersecretary Pulido, who is currently out on a P90,000 bail, courtesy of a Sandiganbayan indictment, together with ex-energy secretary Alfonso Cusi.
The records show that Pulido, Cusi and two other Department of Energy (DOE) officials were co-defendants in the corruption case that Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian filed at the Ombudsman’s Office in February 2022 over the controversial 2019 Udenna-Chevron/Malampaya buyout deal. At the time of the transaction, Pulido was DOE assistant secretary.
In filing the case, Senator Gatchalian said the Senate hearings established that due diligence on the Udenna-Chevron deal “was cast aside to favor private interests,” referring to the “private interest” of businessman Dennis Uy, who is known to be very close to former president Duterte.
After initially dismissing the complaint, Ombudsman Samuel Martires reversed his ruling and revived the case in 2024 leading to its being elevated to the Sandiganbayan in August 2025.
This leads to the question: Has “close fraternal ties” taken over the DICT? As subsequent events showed, Secretary Aguda has turned a blind eye to Undersecretary Pulido’s situation and, despite the Sandiganbayan indictment on a case basically involving “procurement,” allowed his fraternity brother to handle the DICT’s procurement.
By the way, the request of telecom stakeholders for the Office of the President and the DBM to investigate Pulido — and by extension, Aguda — is over the alleged “questionable” appointment of Pulido to the DICT last April even as he allegedly remains as DBM assistant secretary since 2024. This is a violation, they noted, of the prohibition against double compensation and appointment in government unless specifically provided for by law.
It is also a standard requirement for all government applicants, in whatever capacity, to first secure a clearance from both the OMB and the Sandiganbayan. Can this requirement now be waived, Atty. Clavano, depending on one’s fraternity affiliation? There are also claims that some suppliers and service providers were “approached” by “emissaries” allegedly from the office of Pulido for the purpose of “solicitation” in exchange for “favors” as the rollout of DICT projects continues.
As Secretary Aguda prepares for his next round of scuffle, err questioning, from our lawmakers to get the budget that he needs, we can expect more whammies and questions to come his way.
There is one “easy way out,” of course, but we don’t want to get ahead of Secretary Aguda in making the decision. And yes, we welcome any reaction from the good secretary.