Lacierda not being eyed as DICT chief – Palace

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March 14, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — There is no leadership shuffle at the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and former presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda is not being eyed to head the agency, Malacañang clarified yesterday.

“Not true,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said, responding to a Politiko report that DICT Secretary Henry Aguda’s replacement is already being discussed and vetting for potential successors is underway.

Aside from Lacierda, other names mentioned were DICT Undersecretary David Almirol and Renato Paraiso, the head of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center. Lacierda served as presidential spokesman under the late president Benigno Aquino III from 2010 to 2016.

President Marcos named Aguda, former president and chief executive officer of UnionDigital Bank, as DICT chief in March 2025. Reports about change in DICT leadership came a day after Malacañang confirmed that tourism secretary Christina Frasco will step down and will assume the position of presidential adviser for sustainable and resilient communities.

Undersecretary Verna Buensuceso will temporarily lead the tourism department, Castro said on Thursday.

Frasco’s tenure as tourism chief has received both accolades and sharp criticisms. Tourism executives described her as a “game-changer” in the industry due to her ambitious repositioning of the Philippines as a competitive, sustainable and community-driven destination.

Pacific Asia Travel Association Philippines chapter president Maria Paz Alberto said Frasco’s leadership left a lasting mark on the country’s tourism industry.

“The strategic leadership of secretary Christina Garcia Frasco will always be remembered by many of us – tourism stakeholders, industry practitioners and the local communities whose lives she has touched,” Alberto said.

Under Frasco’s term, DOT partnered with the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority to construct tourist rest areas that provided travelers with clean restrooms, lactation rooms, charging stations, pasalubong centers and information hubs.

DOT also pushed initiatives to develop other tourism sectors to promote maritime, recreational, gastronomic and medical tourism in the country. — Andrew Ronquillo