Barely six months after formally assuming his post, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) undersecretary Jorge Sarmiento has resigned for still undisclosed reasons.
Sarmiento, a lawyer who was a former deputy commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and president of Pagcor, was appointed by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte as undersecretary for management and operations in September 2016.
He is being replaced by industry old-hand Monchito Ibrahim, who took his oath of office on Monday, March 13, before DICT secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima.
Before his latest appointment, Ibrahim was an executive consultant at the DICT. Previous to this, he served as one of the deputy commissioners of the Arroyo-era Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and deputy executive director of the ICT Office (ICTO), the precursor of the DICT.
As the new undersecretary for management and operations, Ibrahim is tasked with managing the internal processes of the department, which includes financial, administrative, and legal management, as well as procurement. The position also provides assistance to the secretary in supervising the NTC.
Ibrahim is widely regarded for his work in sustaining the development of the Philippine cyberservices industry, helping the country reach its current status of being second in global market share next to India.
He was also active in organizing 32 regional ICT councils to help sustain regional ICT development projects. These councils helped establish and develop the country?s current Next Wave Cities.
