DICT cybersecurity undersecretary Julius Gorospe to resign by end of March

MANILA, Philippines – Julius Gorospe, the Department for Information and Communications Technology (DICT) undersecretary for cybersecurity, confirmed he was resigning from his position by the end of March but denied reports regarding the circumstances of his resignation.

The DICT, in a statement on Thursday afternoon, February 26, said articles released by Bilyonaryo, Politiko, and Abante, which said Gorospe would be resigning effective March 15 due to internal disagreements within the DICT, had “significant factual inaccuracies that must be clarified.”

One supposed disagreement cited by the articles included Gorospe allegedly not being allowed by DICT Secretary Henry Aguda and Undersecretary Faye Condez-de Sagon to attend the ASEAN Cyber Meeting. Further, claims that the terms of reference for ASEAN cybersecurity initiatives were already finalized in favor of a particular company were also floated in the articles.

In a separate statement released by the DICT a few hours later, Gorospe denied the article’s assertions as to the circumstances of his resignation, which comes following his January 30 appointment to the post and his swearing in on February 2.

“The Cybersecurity Bureau I lead has always been aligned with Sec. Henry Aguda’s vision of a secure cyberspace, where every Filipino is safe from financial scams and other illicit content. We have been actively working together to prepare for our ASEAN Chairship and to ensure that our cyber defense is at par with international standards,” Gorospe said.

“By end of March, I am leaving the Department with nothing but gratefulness for the extraordinary opportunity to serve our country,” he continued.  – Rappler.com