A retired brigadier general has been appointed by Pres. Noynoy Aquino as a new deputy executive director of the Information and Communications Technology Office (ICT Office) under the Department of Science and Technology.
The appointment of Nicolas D. Ojeda Jr., which became effective last May 19, came as a surprise since the former military man is not a familiar figure in the local ICT circles.
His designation, however, is seen as a move to fortify the cybersecurity capability of the country, especially now that the Philippines has figured in online skirmishes with China. In 2010 and 2011, he served as a lecturer on cybersecurity in Singapore. He has also lectured on the subject at the National Defense College of the Philippines and at the Asia Pacific College.
Prior to his new post, Ojeda served as head of the information systems division of the AFPMBAI (Armed Forces and Police Mutual Benefit Association Inc.), the pension arm for police and military personnel.
A member of PMA Class 1977, Ojeda?s stint in the armed forces was mostly spent as a communications systems engineer and information manager. He was also the chief of the AFP Modernization Program Management Office from June 2008 to March 2010.
Ojeda said in his LinkedIn profile that his studies at the University of the Philippines were first interrupted when accepted at the Philippine Military Academy in 1973.
He tried to finished his engineering degree at the UP in 1983 but his schooling was cut short again with the outbreak of the 1986 Edsa Revolution.
?I was about to graduate when the February Revolution of 1986 forced me to stop my studies and return to the active service,? Ojeda said.
