SSS chief De Claro is new DICT secretary, says Marcos

“I have already signed the ad interim appointment of the new DICT secretary is Robert Joseph Montes de Claro," Marcos said during the oathtaking accredited media groups at the Palace.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has appointed Social Security System (SSS) chief Robert Joseph Montes de Claro as the new secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), replacing Henry Aguda.

While his reasons for quitting were not disclosed, Aguda resigned from the post in October following a controversy over the banning of online platform Discord.

“I have already signed the ad interim appointment of the new DICT secretary is Robert Joseph Montes de Claro," Marcos said during the oathtaking accredited media groups at the Palace.

"He is the current SSS president and CEO and he also, besides that, he also has a very strong background in terms of the digital economy, the digital world,” he added.

Marcos said that De Claro was also the Chair of the Information Technology Connection committee of the SSS, and he also represented the social pensioners in the Board of Trustees of UnionBank.

Speaking before the media, de Claro thanked the employees of the SSS and apologized for being unable to bid them a proper farewell.

Asked about the issue of banning social media platforms, de Claro said that the best cure was prevention.

“I’ll have a thorough review of all the projects, budgets, and procurement ng DICT, and I assure the public that over the next three months, there should be a clear-cut plan on how to take DICT on where it should be,” de Claro said.