DITO Telecommunity Corp. on Wednesday denied allegations that it employs 400 overstaying Chinese nationals.
“DITO welcomes the investigation of the DICT [Department of Information and Communications Technology] on the allegations that Chinese employees or partners of DITO are involved in spying,” DITO chief revenue officer and chief corporate communication officer Adel Tamano said in a statement.
“We are confident that this investigation will once again affirm the findings of the joint Audit of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, National Security Commission, National Telecommunications Commission, conducted recently on April 8, 2025, which stated clearly that DITO has passed the government standards for cybersecurity and has safeguarded its network facilities and information assets by establishing a robust security system and infrastructure,” Tamano said.
Tamano said DITO undergoes periodic cybersecurity audits as a requirement of its franchise and as a critical infrastructure under the Public Service Act. This post audit report of the recent joint audit of the DICT, NSC and NTC are valid until April 2027.
“In addition to this clean bill of health, arising from the aforementioned joint audit by the DICT, NSC, and NTC, DITO has specifically chosen among its top leaders, retired Major Gen. Rodolfo Santiago as chief technology officer in charge of network, IT and data security, retired Col. Roleen Del Prado as our head of cybersecurity and retired Col. Romeo Basco as head of corporate security,” he said.
“These retired men in uniform have dedicated and committed their lives to protecting the sovereignty of our country and security of our people, and they are sworn to continue to do so in their work at DITO,” Tamano said.
Tamano said the allegations and the questions on the legal status of non-Filipinos working at DITO were not new to the company. “We have been plagued by similar allegations since we were awarded by NTC to operate as the new major player in 2018,” he said.
“In fact, we have already addressed these claims numerous times in our Congressional hearings for the renewal of our franchise in 2021, and in various media fora henceforth. On the visa issue, DITO has always been fully compliant with all requirements for employment of foreign nationals,” Tamano said.
“Despite these allegations being rehashed, our organization draws encouragement from the fact that since our commercial launch on March 8, 2021, nearly 15 million Filipinos have chosen DITO to provide them the most advanced, best value, and most secure telecommunications service in the country,” Tamano said.
DITO is 60-percent owned by Davao-based DITO CME Holdings Corp., while the remaining 40 percent is owned by China Telecommunications Corp.
