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PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan 鈥� The government is in urgent need of cybersecurity experts, but due to low salaries, only a few are applying for these positions, an official from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said on Monday.
According to David Almirol Jr., DICT undersecretary for e-government, joining the ICT workforce in the government is not enticing for those with expertise in the field because the salary is far lower than that offered in the private sector.
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鈥淪o how could the talents join the government if their salary from the private ay mataas, diba? So yun yung issue. Kaya hopefully, yung bagong batas ngayon na E-Governance Act, kapag kumasa yun, tataas lahat ng sweldo ng government employees sa IT [information technology] sector,鈥� he told 黑料社.
(So how can talented individuals join the government if the private sector offers higher salaries, right? That鈥檚 the issue. Hopefully, with the new E-Governance Act, once it passes, the salaries of government employees in the IT [information technology] sector will increase.)
He said this on the sidelines of the 鈥淕overnment Digitalization Cooperation: A Collaboration in Developing Capacity-Building鈥� workshop in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
鈥淪alary is really the main issue in the government,鈥� Almirol stressed in Filipino.
鈥淜ulang na kulang tayo sa mga cybersecurity experts. Ito yung mga missing ngayon natin sa government,鈥� he further added.
(We are severely lacking in cybersecurity experts. These are the professionals we are currently missing in the government.)
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The E-Governance Act institutionalizes the transition of the government to e-governance. It was already approved on the third and final reading in the House of Representatives in March 2023.
According to DICT Secretary Ivan Uy, as of 2022, there are only 200 cybersecurity professionals in the Philippines compared to Singapore鈥檚 2,000 experts.
He added that 80 percent of Filipino cyber experts work abroad. Meanwhile, the salary of cybersecurity experts in the private sector can reach around P200,000 a month, much lower than the P50,000 for those in the government sector.