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Ghost Wi-Fi, Real Billions: How Aguda’s DICT Turned ‘Free Internet’ Into a Fraternity Slush Fund

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Louis ‘Barok’ Biraogo

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They Promised Free Wi-Fi. You Got Ghost Sites, Double Salaries, and a Procurement Czar Under Indictment

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C Biraogo — September 30, 2026

SO LET me get this absolutely, catastrophically straight: the Philippines has a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) created under Republic Act No. 10844 (Department of Information and Communications Technology Act of 2015) that can’t even keep its own internet connection stable during a simple video interview. This same department is responsible for a “Free Wi-Fi for All” program under Republic Act No. 10929 (Free Internet Access in Public Places Act) that has been bleeding billions of pesos since 2016. And the man in charge—Henry Aguda, former Globe CTO, former UnionDigital Bank CEO, University of the Philippines (UP) Math and Law graduate—wants us to believe he’s just a victim of circumstance.

Secretary Aguda, forgive me if I don’t shed a tear.

“7,000 Wi-Fi Sites. 0 Connection. P19.49 Billion ‘Well Spent.’ 📡👻”

The Ghost Sites That Weren’t There

Here’s what we know: the Office of the Ombudsman has launched a fact-finding investigation into an alleged “ghost internet” scheme—contractors delivering substandard or fake software, non-operational Wi-Fi sites that existed only on paper, and a technical inspection system so broken that “due diligence” became a punchline.

The Palace itself has acknowledged this is serious enough to warrant investigation. Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro essentially said the quiet part out loud: contractors who shortchange the public must be held accountable.

But here’s the thing about Aguda’s defense. He says the DICT “welcomes” the investigation and has already begun internal audits, strengthened monitoring, and upgraded its Network Monitoring System. Isn’t that noble? The man whose department oversaw this alleged mess is now promising to investigate himself.

That’s like asking the fox to audit the henhouse—then praising him for finding the feathers.

The Antique Overbilling: A Case Study in Creative Accounting

In October 2025, Senator Loren Legarda dropped a bombshell at a Senate hearing: the DICT was proposing to charge P90,116 per month for a single Wi-Fi site in Antique. When questioned, DICT Undersecretary Christina Faye Condez-De Sagon revealed the actual cost should be P26,000 per month.

That’s not a rounding error. That’s a fourfold discrepancy—or as Legarda put it, “not double, not triple, but quadruple overpriced”.

Aguda’s response? He called it “overpriced” himself, said the proposal wasn’t authorized, and announced that one official had been suspended while another had left the agency.

How convenient. The proposal was unsigned, so no one’s signature is on it. The officials involved are conveniently no longer available for questioning. And Aguda gets to play the reformer who swooped in to clean up the mess.

But here’s what I want to know: if Aguda’s DICT could calculate the “correct” P26,000 rate during a Senate hearing, why hadn’t they done that calculation before submitting a proposal that was four times higher? The department’s own Undersecretary admitted they were “rationalizing all the contracts” and “reviewing all the contracts”. That’s a fancy way of saying nobody was watching the store.

The Pulido Problem: Procurement Czar Under Indictment

Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room—or should I say, the fraternity brother in the procurement office.

Aguda appointed Leonido Jimenez Pulido III as DICT Undersecretary in charge of procurement. Pulido is Aguda’s fraternity brother from UP Sigma Rho. He is also, at the time of his appointment, facing a Sandiganbayan indictment alongside former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi over the controversial 2019 Udenna-Chevron/Malampaya buyout deal. He posted P90,000 bail.

Let me repeat that: the man put in charge of procurement for a department with a multi-billion-peso budget is himself facing procurement-related corruption charges.

The telecom stakeholders who sent a White Paper to President Marcos through Budget Secretary Kim Robert de Leon had the audacity to point this out. Their concerns weren’t just about Pulido’s legal troubles—they also alleged that “emissaries” from Pulido’s office were approaching suppliers for favors.

Aguda’s defense? Silence. Or rather, the silence of a man who has decided that fraternity loyalty trumps institutional prudence.

Now, I’m sure Aguda’s defenders will say Pulido is innocent until proven guilty. Fair enough. But since when did “innocent until proven guilty” become “eligible for the most sensitive procurement post in the entire department”? There’s a difference between presumption of innocence and institutional suicide.

The Double Compensation Question

Here’s another detail that smells worse the longer you hold it under your nose: Pulido allegedly holds simultaneous positions as Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Assistant Secretary and DICT Undersecretary. The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines (1987 Constitution), Article IX-B, Section 7 explicitly prohibits appointive officials from holding multiple government positions unless specifically authorized by law.

The DBM’s 2026 Philippine Government Directory apparently still lists Pulido as an Assistant Secretary. Meanwhile, DICT materials identify him as Undersecretary.

Either someone forgot to update the organizational chart for over a year, or we have a constitutional violation sitting in plain sight. And if Aguda knowingly appointed someone with this kind of questionable employment status, what does that say about his vetting process?

Oh, wait. He didn’t vet. He just called a fraternity brother.

The Budget Deferral: Congress Calls BS

The House of Representatives deferred DICT’s P19.49-billion budget for 2027. The official reason? The department lacks “teeth” against Meta and other social media platforms over online harms—particularly child sexual abuse materials and exploitation.

Deputy Speaker Janette Garin put it bluntly: “Nakukulangan ng tapang, nakukulangan ng ngipin” (lacking courage, lacking teeth).

But let’s read between the lines. The budget deferral came days before the Ombudsman announced its “ghost internet” investigation. Congress wasn’t just upset about Meta. They were sending a message: this department is a mess, and we’re not handing over P19.49 billion until someone cleans it up.

The Daily Tribune called the Zuckerberg summons “parliamentary magic”—a theatrical distraction from the real issues. I’d call it something else: Congress using the only leverage it has against a department that has become a byword for procurement dysfunction.

The “I Inherited It” Defense Falls Flat

Aguda assumed office in October 2025 (some sources say March 2025). The Free Wi-Fi project launched in 2021. So technically, yes, he inherited a broken system.

But here’s the problem with that defense: by October 2025, when Legarda exposed the Antique overbilling, Aguda knew. By September 2026, when the Ombudsman launched its investigation, the problem was public knowledge. And what did Aguda do in the intervening months?

He appointed a fraternity brother under indictment to run procurement.

That’s not inheriting a problem. That’s actively making it worse.

The Competence Question

The Manila Times column that sparked this whole analysis asked the question that everyone’s thinking: “Has he reached the limit of his competence by now?”

It’s a fair question. Aguda’s resume is impressive—Globe CTO, UnionDigital CEO, PSAC Digital Infrastructure Lead. But running a bank or a telecom company is not the same as running a government department where every peso is subject to audit, every contract is scrutinized, and every appointment is a potential scandal.

The private sector rewards speed and results. The public sector demands process and accountability. Aguda seems to have brought his private-sector instincts to a public-sector job—and the mismatch is costing us billions.

The “Easy Way Out”

The Manila Times column hinted at Aguda’s possible exit strategy: resignation. It’s the classic Philippine political move—fall on your sword before you’re pushed, preserve some dignity, hope the criminal liability doesn’t stick.

But resignation won’t fix the DICT. It won’t recover the billions lost to ghost sites. It won’t address the systemic procurement failures that allowed this mess to happen in the first place.

What we need is not a sacrificial lamb. We need accountability—real accountability, not the kind that ends with a resignation letter and a quiet retirement.

The Questions That Need Answers

Here’s what I want to know, and what I suspect the Ombudsman will eventually find:

  1. How many of the 7,000+ Wi-Fi sites nationwide are actually operational? The government spends an estimated P6.5 billion annually on this program. How much of that is going to sites that don’t exist?
  2. Who signed the inspection certificates? If contractors were delivering substandard equipment and getting paid for premium specs, someone was certifying those deliveries as compliant. Who?
  3. Where did the money go? The Antique discrepancy—P90,000 versus P26,000—is just one site. If that model was replicated nationwide, we’re talking about billions in potential overbilling.
  4. Why was Pulido appointed? Was it really about his procurement expertise, or was it about fraternity loyalty? And did Aguda know about the dual compensation issue?
  5. What did Aguda know, and when did he know it? The “I inherited it” defense only works until the moment you’re informed of the problem. After that, it’s negligence.

The Fraternity Factor

Let me be clear: I don’t care that Aguda and Pulido are Sigma Rho brothers. Fraternities are social organizations. They’re not illegal.

But when a fraternity relationship becomes the basis for appointing someone under indictment to the most sensitive procurement position in a department that’s already under investigation for procurement fraud, we’ve moved beyond social networking into something else entirely.

The White Paper sent to Malacañang called it out. The Ombudsman is investigating it. And Aguda’s response has been… what, exactly? A shrug? A “trust me”?

That’s not good enough. Not for a department handling P18 billion in public funds. Not for a program that President Marcos himself touted as a “legacy”. Not for the millions of Filipinos who were promised free internet and got ghost sites instead.

The Bottom Line

Henry Aguda might be a brilliant technologist. He might be a visionary in the private sector. But in the public sector, brilliance means nothing without accountability. Vision means nothing without execution. And execution means nothing if the people executing it are under indictment for corruption.

The Ombudsman’s investigation is just the beginning. The real question is whether Aguda will be held accountable for the mess he inherited—and then made worse.

Or will he be allowed to resign, fade into the background, and resurface somewhere else, leaving the DICT to clean up the wreckage?

The “easy way out” is resignation. The hard way is accountability. I know which one I’m betting on.

And I know which one the Filipino people deserve.

Louis ‘Barok’ C. Biraogo is a legal analyst and commentator. He blogs at Kweba ni Barok. The views expressed are his own.

Key Citations

A. Legal & Official Sources

B. News Reports

Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo

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