The curious case of Henry Aguda

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is one of those departments where reality has fallen far short of ambitions. The most recent holders of the portfolio have been less than inspiring: Eliseo Rio Jr. and Gringo Honasan were too old and out of touch; Ivan Uy apparently traveled too much and was unable to answer criticism of his work; and so Henry Aguda, plucked from the Aboitiz bench of talent, was supposed to bring private sector vigor and know-how to the department. His appointment in March and confirmation in October come at a dangerous time.

The reasons it’s a dangerous time are three. First, in terms of national security, there is online infiltration by hostile state parties of government sites and data. Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute seems unimpressed by DICT press releases and summarizes the situation as follows: “Recent reports have provided alarming evidence of China’s systemic cyber espionage activities with direct implications for the Philippines.” Second, there is the continuing effect of online and telecoms scams taking advantage of consumers. President Marcos, according to the secretary, imposed a deadline on the DICT: no online scams by Christmas. Except that, if you actually see the government’s own summary of the presser, what the secretary said was that the President wishes there wouldn’t be scams by Christmas, which the secretary took as an order. Third and last is a problem of the department’s own making: a politically weakening lack of due diligence on the part of the department itself.

When the time came for the DICT budget to be scrutinized on Nov. 25, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian served as the proponent of the budget: questions from the plenary are addressed to the proponent, although the department leadership attends to furnish the proponent with data and even answers. So it was here that Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked Aguda (through Gatchalian, as the sponsor) why DICT followed the old procurement law for a P3-billion Bayanihan SIM procurement contract when the new law (Republic Act No. 12009) was already in effect? To which the DICT replied that the implementing rules and regulations hadn’t yet been passed when they (the DICT) asked for permission from the Office of the President to conduct direct bidding (as opposed to competitive bidding) in July 2025. So, Hontiveros checked and went ballistic because the IRR of the new law had already been passed back in February 2025.

In today’s low-trust environment, you can understand why Hontiveros lost her temper. Either the secretary was lying or was uninformed; in either case, a disservice was done to the process and the senators involved (Gatchalian, as the proponent, Hontiveros, as the one trying to exercise oversight), while the crooks laugh all the way to the bank.

The curiously inept manner in which Aguda comes to grips with an attacker’s assertion is a classic case study. On Nov. 14, disgraced former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co posted a list of what he claimed were insertions in the 2025 General Appropriations Act or national budget, including P6.5 billion in insertions in the budget for the DICT: P5 billion for the Free Public Internet Access Program to finance the initial rollout of the Common Tower Project in pilot sites and support the continued implementation and expansion of the project, and P1.5 billion for the eGovernment Systems Development maintenance, security, and integration of the current digital platforms: National Government Data Centre for the Digital National ID and National ID eVerify.

As he prepared to attend the hearing, a reporter asked Aguda if he’d look into where the alleged insertions went, and he replied he’d look into it, but as far as he knew, the 2025 budget was the same as what the President had proposed. Two days later on the 27th, Aguda had to admit to broadcasters Anthony Taberna and Gerry Baja that there had been amendments (or insertions) to his 2025 budget, but that it had all been done before he assumed office and when they looked at what it was for, it looked all in order, but in the end, he didn’t spend the money. Then, on Dec. 1, DICT held a press conference and further clarified that if you compared the National Expenditure Program (the proposed budget of the President, which Congress tackles as the basis for budget deliberations), and the 2025 General Appropriations Act, there was an “excess” of P8.3 billion, P3 billion of which was never touched and never earmarked for any project, while P5 billion ended up used for the Bayanihan SIM (P3 billion) and free Wi-Fi for DepEd (P2 billion).

Hontiveros had zeroed in on the bid for the SIM cards, and along the way, Aguda had to untangle knots he himself had tied by not doing his homework. Hontiveros’ anger over the messy misleading of Aguda revealed not only a potentially fruitful further inquiry (how insertions could cash out) but a weakness of many private sector appointees to the public sector: absent the staff they’ve come to rely on, they end up uninformed, misled, and thus, political liabilities to the appointing power.

—————-

Email: mlquezon3@gmail.com; Twitter: @mlq3