THE COMMISSION on Appointments on Tuesday approved the nomination of Ivan John E. Uy as Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) secretary.
During the hearing, Mr. Uy said his agenda was to enhance the country’s cybersecurity preparedness and appealed for budgetary support from Congress.
“It is a very relevant issue today as we see worldwide, cybersecurity and cyberwarfare actually is the name of the game, and we see it even as we speak during the war in Ukraine and Russia,” he said.
“Sadly, our cybersecurity budget was cut in half for this year and we do not have any funds at all to acquire cybersecurity equipment in order to protect our digital infrastructure,” he told the independent body composed of members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
“We earnestly appeal that we have the capability, we have the people, we have the desire to do it, but Congress has to give us the ammunition, the arms so we can fight for our country,” he added.
Meanwhile, the appointment of Alfredo E. Pascual as Department of Trade and Industry secretary was suspended due to the lack of time. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan