PRRD accepts Rio’s resignation from DICT

Rio on January 31 sent a letter to Duterte, informing the President of his decision to quit his post. (File Photo: Department of Information and Communications Technology – DICT/Facebook)

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has accepted the resignation of Undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr. of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Malacañang said on Friday.

Duterte’s acceptance came over three months since Rio tendered his resignation.

“We likewise affirm that the President has accepted the resignation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary Eliseo Rio, Jr.,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press statement.

Roque said the Palace was thankful to Rio for his “invaluable services to the nation.”

“We wish him (Rio) well in all his future endeavors,” he said.

Rio on January 31 sent a letter to Duterte, informing the President of his decision to quit his post.

Earlier reports said he resigned due to a supposed conflict with other DICT officials.

Rio also questioned the grant and questionable allocation of multimillion-peso confidential funds of the agency.

The DICT had PHP400 million in confidential funds in 2019 and PHP800 million in 2020.

In February, Malacañang said Duterte would first let the Senate look into the controversial confidential funds appropriated to the DICT before ordering a possible presidential probe.

In the same month, Rio issued a joint statement with DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan II, clarifying that the former’s resignation was “because of personal reasons, and not due to any rift with the Secretary, nor to any anomaly in the confidential fund.”

Rio, a licensed electronics and communications engineer, served as DICT Undersecretary for Operations prior to his resignation.

He also served as acting DICT secretary and led the bidding process for the country’s third major telecommunications player.