Ivan Uy resigns as DICT chief

Metro Manila, Philippines – Secretary Ivan Uy of Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is the third Cabinet member to resign this year, Malacañang confirmed in a message.

Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro told reporters that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has accepted Uy's resignation.

"An OIC (officer-in-charge) will fill the position until the president appoints a secretary," said Castro.

Malacañang has yet to respond to queries on the reason behind Uy's resignation. He followed former Communications Secretary Cesar Chavez and Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.

Bautista stepped down for health reasons, while Chavez said he "fell short of expectations."

An IT law expert, Uy was appointed in 2022 after previously serving as chairman of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology under then President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

He also oversaw the formulation of the digital strategy from 2011 to 2016. Malacañang previously said Uy is an international commercial arbitrator specializing in IT-related disputes.

Uy has yet to issue a statement on his resignation.

In a previous briefing, the Palace said Marcos regularly evaluates his Cabinet members but distanced this from the resignations of Bautista and Chavez.

"I-evaluate pa lang po. I-evaluate. Siguro lahat po ngayon kasi every time kailangan namang mag-evaluate ng pangulo eh kung ang kanyang secretaries, Cabinet members are doing well for the government, for the people. So, kapag nakita po ng pangulo na, 'Oops, mukhang hindi ito makakatulong,' eh ‘di we have to find a new leader and it’s for the people. Pero as of now, wala pa po talaga," said Castro.

[Translation: The evaluation is just beginning. The president regularly evaluates whether his secretaries, Cabinet members are performing well for the government and the people. If the president sees that someone may not be contributing effectively, then we have to find a new leader for the people. But as of now, there are no changes yet.]