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 conflict of interest involving government contracts awarded to companies linked to MultiSys.
In a seven-page order, the anti-graft body said there were sufficient grounds to pursue charges of grave misconduct and violations of Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, against Almirol.
The investigation found that eight DICT contracts worth a combined ₱1.55 billion were awarded to companies linked to MultiSys from November 2023 to May 2025.
Almirol was identified as the founder of MultiSys Technologies Corporation in 2010 and reportedly retained a 49.21% shareholding in the company.
The Ombudsman said Almirol had exceeded the 60-day period allowed for divesting his business interests after his appointment in August 2022.
The contracts covered e-government applications, web messaging, cloud infrastructure, data center colocation, and software subscriptions for the eGovPH Super App.
The preventive suspension is intended to prevent possible interference with the investigation while the administrative case proceeds. The allegations remain subject to the appropriate proceedings.
