Malacañang is confident Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan can breeze through the Commission on Appointments the second time around.
Honasan took oath as DICT secretary Monday and attended the Cabinet meeting immediately.
The former senator replaced Elisio Rio Jr., who served in acting capacity since September 2017.
Honasan was appointed DICT Secretary in November 2018 but CA bypassed him. During CA deliberation, Honasan’s qualifications to the post was questioned.
The law that created the DICT, Republic Act 10844, requires the DICT Secretary to have at least seven years of “competence and expertise” in any of the following fields:
- information and communications technology;
- information technology service management;
- information security management;
- cybersecurity;
- data privacy;
- e-Commerce or;
- human capital development in the ICT sector.
Honasan is a graduate of Philippine Military Academy and had served the Armed Forces until he led the botched coup d’etat in 1987. After getting an amnesty, he was elected senator.
Apart from his credentials, Honasan is also facing hurdle on a constitutional prohibition. When the DICT law was signed in 2016, he was sitting as a senator. The 1987 Constitution bars legislators from being appointed to any office which may have been created during the term for which they were elected.
In a statement, Palace spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Honasan is fit to lead the DICT. He said Honasan also has a master’s degree in management, which he believes would the former senator in his new role in the executive branch.
“We are confident that Secretary Honasan would perform well in his new assignment as chief of the DICT, which is headed for exciting times as our people expect the full rollout of the national fiber optic cable network and operationalization of the country’s third major telecommunications player,” he added.
Duterte earlier said he wanted military men in his cabinet since “they could get the job done”.
Honasan is the recent addition to the list of former military men who were appointed as member of the cabinet of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, most notable of them are Social Welfare Secretary Rolando Bautista, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr, and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
