public sector
Founder of offshore software development firm investigated for possibly giving his former outfit government contracts
The Philippines’ Ombudsman has suspended a senior Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) official after allegations that he awarded government contracts to a company he founded and still owned stakes in.
The Ombudsman announced the preventive suspension yesterday, naming Undersecretary for E‑Government David L. Almirol. The decision follows administrative complaints of grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the service, and violations of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials.
“In ordering the preventive suspension, the Ombudsman found strong evidence supporting the administrative charges against Almirol,” according to its announcement.
Almirol established Multisys Technologies Corporation, a provider of software development services and packaged products. After more than ten years as its CEO, he joined DICT in 2022 at the request of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to improve e‑government services.
According to the Ombudsman, between 2023 and 2025 DICT awarded at least eight contracts—totaling over ₱1.5 billion (approximately $24 million)—to entities linked to Multisys. The contracts involved ICT consultancy, e‑government application deployment, web‑based messaging, cloud infrastructure, data‑center colocation, and software subscriptions. Documentation of these transactions reportedly exists in Multisys’s records.
Philippine law required Almirol to divest his stake in Multisys within 60 days of joining the government. The Ombudsman alleges he missed the deadline but later complied. No contracts were allegedly issued while he still held the shares.
The suspension is unpaid and lasts six months. The Ombudsman said the measure is necessary to prevent prejudice to the ongoing investigation, noting Almirol’s control over relevant documents and evidence.
The agency emphasized that the suspension is a precautionary step and does not prejudge the outcome, aiming to preserve the integrity of the proceedings and ensure an impartial investigation.
President Marcos has made anti‑corruption a flagship priority and established an agency to address it. However, some observers believe certain enforcement actions may be partly driven by political considerations.
This episode follows previous technology‑related controversies in the Philippines, such as a 2022 Department of Education overpayment for low‑quality laptops.