The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) has placed Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) undersecretary for e-government David Almirol Jr. under six-month preventive suspension without pay over alleged conflict of interest involving government contracts worth about ₱1.55 billion.
Almirol’s suspension was issued in a seven-page order which cited sufficient grounds for the suspension pending the resolution of administrative complaints for grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and violation of Republic Act 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
According to the OMB, the complaints stemmed from a DICT internal audit report in June 2025 that flagged the hiring of former Multisys Technologies Corporal personnel and the award of contracts to related companies.
The Ombudsman said at least eight e-government-related contracts were awarded to companies with financial ties to Multisys from November 2023 to May 2025.
The order also noted that Almirol, who founded Multisys and served as its president and chief-executive-officer for more than a decade, remained a stockholder, holding 49.21 percent of the company after his appointment as DICT undersecretary in August 2022.
Almirol was removed from the company’s stockholder list only in a filing received by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in November 2022, beyond the 60-day period for divesting business interests under the law.
The Ombudsman stressed that Almirol’s continued stay in office could prejudice the investigation because he had custody and control of relevant documents and evidence.
