The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said a recent interruption affecting parts of the eGovPH app was caused by a spike in user activity that strained system capacity, even as officials acknowledged funding issues raised in a Senate hearing.
In a statement issued April 30, the DICT said the disruption stemmed from “an unexpected surge in user activity,” adding that technical teams “immediately responded” and services were “promptly restored.”
The agency apologized for the inconvenience and said the incident reflects growing public reliance on digital government platforms. It added that it is undertaking system upgrades to improve capacity and performance amid rising demand.
The outage came as DICT officials faced questions from lawmakers over the sustainability of government digital infrastructure.
During a Senate hearing, DICT undersecretary David Almirol Jr. disclosed that multiple government systems had been taken offline.
“Na-no choice po kami, Mr. Chair — sad to say. We disabled 12 gov’t systems,” Almirol said as quoted by the Daily Tribune.
Sen. Bam Aquino pressed the issue, asking if the shutdowns were due to unpaid cloud services.
“Is it because wala kayong pambayad ng cloud server space?” Aquino asked.
Almirol replied: “Opo, ’yon po ang reality, Mr. Chair.”
Aquino criticized the situation, saying: “I mean, that’s insane to me — na magsasara ang eGov because wala tayong pambayad.”
The DICT said it is coordinating with the Department of Budget and Management and other agencies to address funding requirements and support long-term planning for digital services.
It maintained that it remains committed to delivering “secure, reliable, and accessible” digital public services through the eGovPH platform and other government systems.
