MANILA— The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the six-month preventive suspension without pay of Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary for E-Government David L. Almirol Jr. over alleged conflicts of interest involving government contracts worth about ₱1.55 billion.

The seven-page order cited sufficient grounds to suspend Almirol while administrative complaints against him for grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and violations of Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, remain pending.

The case stemmed from a June 2025 report by the DICT Internal Audit Unit that raised concerns over the hiring of former employees of Multisys Technologies Corporation and the awarding of contracts to other companies with links to the firm.

Almirol founded Multisys in 2010 and served as its president and chief executive officer for more than a decade before his appointment as DICT undersecretary for E-Government in August 2022. He later led the development and rollout of the eGovPH Super App.

The Ombudsman’s investigation found that the DICT awarded eight e-government-related contracts to companies with financial ties to Multisys between November 2023 and May 2025, “totaling to about P1.55 billion”.

The contracts covered information and communications technology consultancy, e-government application deployment, web-based messaging services, cloud infrastructure, data center colocation and software subscriptions.

Multisys’ audited financial statements also showed revenues from the related companies for managed services, amounting to “for managed services of P110.8 million in 2023 and P514.6 million in 2024”.

The order also questioned the timing of Almirol’s divestment from Multisys after he joined the DICT.

“Multisys’ General Information Sheet (GIS) notarized on 27 October 2022 and received by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 2 November 2022 showed that respondent was still listed as a stockholder of Multisys holding 49.21% of the stocks,” the order noted.

Under Section 9 of RA 6713, public officials are required to divest their business interests within 60 days of assuming office. Almirol was removed from Multisys’ list of stockholders only in a subsequent GIS notarized on Nov. 18, 2022, and received by the SEC on Nov. 21, 2022.

In justifying the preventive suspension, the Ombudsman cited what it described as strong evidence supporting the administrative charges and the risk that Almirol’s continued presence in office could affect the investigation.

The order pointed to his control and custody of documents and other evidence relevant to the case as a potential impediment to the proceedings.

The suspension order is immediately executory and will remain in force until the administrative case is resolved.

DICT Secretary Robert Joseph de Claro has been furnished a copy of the order for implementation and directed to submit proof of compliance to the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman clarified that preventive suspension does not constitute a penalty or a finding of administrative liability. It is a precautionary measure intended to protect the integrity of the proceedings and ensure an impartial and unimpeded investigation.