Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) undersecretary Jeffrey Ian Dy said on Thursday, April 10, that he has received a notice from Malacanang that he has been fired from his post.
Newsbytes.PH reported in a story on April 3 that Dy is one of the undersecretaries whose courtesy resignation is expected to be accepted by new DICT secretary Henry Aguda.
In a Facebook post, Dy said he has been furnished a copy of a letter dated April 8 from executive secretary Lucas Bersamin informing Aguda that his (Dy’s) tenure as undersecretary for cybersecurity has “expired effective March 31”.
“I admit that I was surprised by the turn of events. Since the last National Cybersecurity Interagency Council meeting, I did not talk to anyone from the Office of the Executive Secretary,” he wrote in his Facebook page.
But he questioned the term “expired” as used by Malacanang in issuing his walking papers.
“I also do not know how a tenure would have expired especially since I am holding the plantilla item for the permanent/career undersecretary position. Perhaps, it is the trust and confidence in me of the appointing power, that has expired,” he said.
Dy said he is looking forward to going back to the private sector.
“I am proud of the Philippine achievements in Cybersecurity of which I have been part of. The expansion of the National Security Operations Center and the National Computer Emergency Response Team. The completion of the National Fiber Backbone Phases 1-3, and how we defended 32 govt agencies, including the Office of the President against 40+ APT attacks in 2024.
“The colossal leap of the Philippines in the GCl ranking from a score of 77 to 93.51 at the heels of the issuance of the National Cybersecurity Plan 2023-2028 as Executive Order 58. l am stepping down with my head up high,” he said.
