In an exclusive interview with BitDigest.io, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) undersecretary David Almirol Jr. clarified that only a small portion of connected systems were temporarily disabled after surging demand overwhelmed cloud resources supporting the government’s expanding digital ecosystem.

“So we did not shut down eGov,” Almirol said. “We just only [disabled] several integrations like 12 of them.”

The remarks come amid growing scrutiny over the sustainability of the Philippines’ digital transformation efforts after the DICT acknowledged resource constraints tied to explosive growth in the eGov Super App and National Digital ID system.

Only 12 of More Than 1,000 Integrations Were Affected

Almirol stressed that the core eGov platform remained online throughout the incident.

According to the DICT, the government now operates:

• 28 integrated government platforms inside eGov
• More than 1,058 total system integrations
• 91 million digital national IDs
• 51 million eGov Super App downloads

Only around 12 integrations were temporarily disabled during a brief maintenance and optimization period.

Many of those services have since resumed under temporary query limitations. The primary source of strain, Almirol said, was the scale of National ID-related requests flowing through interconnected government services.

‘A Victim of Our Own Success’

The interview also revealed the scale of the government’s cloud infrastructure burden.

According to Almirol:

• DICT currently pays for approximately 3,000 cloud servers
• Roughly 95% support systems belonging to other government agencies
• More than 400 local government units are hosted within the infrastructure environment

Agencies cited include:

• TESDA
• SEC
• DOTR
• COMELEC

Almirol emphasized that eGov itself was built internally by DICT developers without relying on external contractors for its 28 platforms.

“Libre na nga yung development eh,” he said. “Imagine mo kung talagang isu-sustain natin ito, bigyan kami ng mas maayos na budget for cloud services.”

He described the situation as both a “curse and blessing,” saying adoption far exceeded original government projections. The eGov Super App alone surpassed its original 2028 target of 30 million users years ahead of schedule.

A Push Toward Sustainable Funding

While Almirol declined to disclose a precise funding shortfall, he outlined several structural solutions the agency is pursuing dedicated cloud infrastructure budgeting for eGov, cost-sharing or direct allocation for agencies consuming cloud resources, and continued optimization of internally developed systems.

The DICT’s broader argument is that digital government adoption is no longer experimental, it has become core national infrastructure.

Opening eGov to the Developer Community

Almirol also expressed support for the upcoming eGovHackathon organized by BetterGov.ph alongside eGovChain.

He framed the initiative as an opportunity for independent developers and cybersecurity experts to validate and improve government systems.

“Maganda na makita ng IT community na totoo yung sinasabi namin,” he said.

The DICT hopes the event will generate community-driven feedback around:

• Cybersecurity
• Infrastructure optimization
• Feature improvements
• Citizen-focused service design