DICT Sets Guidelines on Gov’t ICT Property Disposal
On November 4, 2025, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) issued Department Circular No. HRA-007, series of 2025, otherwise known as the Guidelines on the Disposal of Government Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Properties, which governs the manner of disposal of government-owned ICT properties that are unserviceable, have reached their estimated useful life, can no longer provide the expected service or output due to obsolescence, or are no longer needed.
The Circular covers government-owned ICT properties and equipment, including, but not limited to, computers, laptops, servers, peripherals, networking devices, software licenses, data storage devices, mobile devices, handphones and tablet, and hardware parts, that were marked for disposal by the Disposal Committee of the Government Office concerned.
It applies to all departments and agencies under the Executive Branch, including their regional and field offices, attached agencies, state universities and colleges (SUCs), government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and their subsidiaries, and local government units (LGUs). The Legislature, Judiciary, Constitutional Commissions, and the Office of the Ombudsman are strongly encouraged to adopt the Circular.
Procedure of Disposal
Inventory and Assessment
The Property Unit, or the organizational unit handling asset management and is in charge of monitoring office resources, shall identify government-owned ICT properties that are no longer in use or have reached their estimated useful life, and thereafter, submit an annual report of its findings to the Disposal Committee.
Before disposal, all identified ICT properties will be inspected and assessed by the ICT Unit, or the organizational unit that manages, operates, maintains, and secures the management information systems and infrastructure internal to the government office. The ICT Unit shall determine if the property is unserviceable, unusable, or obsolete. The ICT Unit shall then provide a copy of their evaluation to the End-user and Property Unit.
Data Sanitization
Data sanitization is the process of irreversibly removing or destroying data stored on a memory device, including, but not limited to, hard drives, solid-state drives, flash memory, mobile devices, compact disks (CD), and digital versatile disks (DVD).
All organization-related and owned information and data shall be protected and removed from the ICT property before disposal, according to the level of sensitivity and classification of the data as highly-sensitive government data, above-sensitive government data, sensitive government data, and nonsensitive government data.
The end-user or the immediate supervisor shall determine the level of classification of the data stored on the device and confirm that vital records have been backed up and retrieved before data sanitization.
Prior to the conduct of disposal, the ICT Unit shall ensure that all software installed on the ICT property deemed for disposal has been properly and fully uninstalled. It shall issue a certification ensuring the complete extraction, proper storage, security of data, and proper turnover of ICT equipment before disposal.
All ICT properties that have been sanitized or are pending disposal must be securely handled and endorsed by the ICT Unit to the Property Unit to prevent unauthorized access, damage, or theft. The Property Unit shall carry out the physical destruction as deemed appropriate.
The Property Unit shall notify the Disposal Committee of all ICT properties for disposal and its recommended appropriate mode of disposal.
Disposal Committee
The Disposal Committee shall undertake disposal proceedings for ICT properties on an “as is, where is” basis, and ensure the extraction, proper storage, and security of confidential data stored in ICT equipment before disposal.
ICT properties may be disposed through any of the following methods as deemed as appropriate and deemed most advantageous to the government: (1) condemnation/destruction of properties; (2) transfer of ICT properties to another government agency; (3) donation; (4) return to the supplier/vendor; (5) sale to government officials/employees of the agency; (6) public auction; (7) negotiated sale; (8) sale of junk or scrap and/or recycling; or (9) direct negotiation.
Agencies are required to engage only with certified e-waste recyclers accredited by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or other relevant authorities to ensure that disposal practices meet environmental standards and sustainable waste management.
The full Circular may be accessed here.
Photo credits:
Photo by TECNIC Bioprocess Solutions
General view of a technical office with several employees working on computers in a modern and orderly environment
https://unsplash.com/photos/office-space-filled-with-computers-and-people-xdar9L2_clo
Girona, España
Published on May 27, 2025
SONY, ILCE-7M4
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