While Malacañang has yet to officially confirm the resignation of Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) secretary Henry Aguda, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla has all but confirmed his exit during a radio program, adding weight to reports that the embattled Cabinet official is on his way out of the Marcos administration.
But even before Remulla’s remarks, the writing may already have been on the wall for Aguda when he was conspicuously absent from Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s state visit to Singapore, where Department of Finance (DOF) secretary Frederick Go met with executives of Amazon Web Services (AWS) to discuss the expansion of the technology giant’s presence in the Philippines.
The meeting covered matters that would ordinarily fall within the DICT’s sphere of responsibility, particularly digital infrastructure, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and data centers.
Go’s involvement was not unusual given his economic portfolio and the investment-related nature of the discussions. However, the absence of Aguda from a high-level meeting involving one of the world’s largest cloud computing providers was notable, especially as the DICT is the government agency primarily responsible for the country’s ICT development and digital transformation agenda.
The development takes on added significance in light of a Newsbytes.PH report on Oct. 7 that Aguda had been pressured to resign following a series of controversies that reportedly drew the displeasure of First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.
The report, citing industry sources, said the First Lady had become increasingly unhappy with the negative publicity surrounding Aguda and had asked Pres. Marcos to fire him from his post.
Among the controversies cited were the DICT’s handling of the Discord ban and Aguda’s participation in a roundtable discussion organized by social media platform BitDigest despite reportedly being advised against attending.
Against this backdrop, Aguda’s exclusion from the Singapore visit, coupled with Go’s prominent role in discussions involving AWS, could be interpreted as another indication that the DICT chief had already lost political support within the administration.
According to the government statement, Go and AWS executives explored opportunities to expand the company’s Philippine operations, including investments in data centers and other digital infrastructure.
The discussions also covered the use of cloud technology and AI to help businesses improve productivity, develop new services, and generate employment.
AWS has operated in the Philippines for more than a decade, supporting local enterprises and expanding its infrastructure through the AWS Manila Local Zone. The company has also trained more than 280,000 Filipinos in cloud-related skills.
While the talks were presented as part of the government’s efforts to attract technology investments, their timing and the absence of the country’s top ICT official from the Singapore visit raised questions about Aguda’s standing in the Marcos Cabinet.
In its earlier report, Newsbytes.PH said Aguda had submitted his resignation and reportedly attempted to meet with Marcos at Malacañang before the president departed for Singapore but was unable to do so.
The report also identified the controversy surrounding alleged ghost projects under the government’s free Wi-Fi program as another source of dissatisfaction with Aguda’s leadership.
Among those reportedly being considered to replace him are DICT undersecretary David Almirol, former DICT undersecretary Monchito Ibrahim, and former Globe Telecom executive Anton Bonifacio, who recently resigned from the telecommunications company.
Almirol was reportedly being considered to serve as officer-in-charge pending the appointment of a permanent replacement.
Although Go’s meeting with AWS does not, by itself, establish that Aguda had been deliberately sidelined, the development provides another piece of circumstantial evidence suggesting that his position in the administration had become increasingly precarious.
The Singapore visit may therefore have offered an early glimpse of the leadership changes taking shape at the DICT, even before any formal announcement from Malacañang.
