Two big Cabinet changes just dropped, and one of them affects the department in charge of your internet.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. confirmed on Sunday, October 11, while on a working visit to Singapore, that Lino Cayetano will be his new Presidential Communications Office (PCO) secretary. He also confirmed that he had accepted the resignation of Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda. The President said the changes will take effect once he returns and the paperwork is formalized.
Who is Lino Cayetano?
Cayetano has been general manager of state-run PTV-4 since June. He served as mayor of Taguig from 2019 to 2022 and as a member of the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2016.
He is the younger brother of Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Pia Cayetano. Before politics, he directed TV shows and founded the production company Rein Entertainment.
He replaces Dave Gomez, who had led the PCO as acting secretary since July 2025. The President said the Commission on Appointments had bypassed Gomez's appointment. Cayetano will be the administration's sixth communications chief.
Why the DICT chief is leaving
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Saturday, October 10, that Aguda had resigned and that the Palace had accepted it. That came days after the Palace said on October 7 that Aguda was still in office.
The President linked the resignation to the Ombudsman's investigation into alleged "ghost" connectivity projects. The probe covers complaints about government IT and free public internet services, including non-working sites and payments for services that were allegedly not delivered.
Aguda, a former president and CEO of UnionDigital Bank, became DICT secretary in March 2025. He will stay on until a replacement is chosen.
Why young Filipinos should care
The DICT and its attached agencies have been at the center of some of the year's biggest online stories:
The brief block on Discord in September, which was lifted in less than a day after the platform promised to cooperate with authorities, but drew backlash from gamers and online workers.
The National Telecommunications Commission's P100,000-a-day fines on Smart, Globe and DITO over poor mobile broadband service.
The government's free Wi-Fi program, now part of the Ombudsman's investigation.
Whoever takes over the DICT will inherit all of that.
What's next
As of press time, the Palace has not named a new DICT secretary. Cayetano's oath and the appointment of a new PTV-4 head are also still pending. The President also said Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon will not return to the Department of Transportation for now.
