Assistant Secretary Philip A. Varilla is a career officer, a Professional Electronics Engineer and an ASEAN Engineer with more than 34 years of experience in telecommunications/ICT. He was appointed as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology Office (DICT) on 11 August 2022.  His office is in-charge of exercising direct supervision and control over the operation of the Broadband ng Masa Program, which includes the (2) major flagship Programs/Projects of DICT such as Free WiFi for All/Free Public Internet Access Program, and the National Broadband Program throughout the Philippines.  Early this year, in addition to these programs, he was also tasked to be the supervising Assistant Secretary of the Infostructure Management Bureau (IMB).  He also chairs one of the Bids and Awards Committees of the Department.

He is currently attending as DICT representiative in various Inter-agency Committees such as the NEDA Infrastructure Committee (INFRACOM) Technical Board.  He is the alternative representative to the Philippine Space Council and the Inter-Cabinet Cluster on Normalization. He chaired the Sub-Planning Committee on Digital Infrastructure of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028. He is also the President of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) Forum, the association of government CIOs in the Philippines.

Prior to the change of Administration, he was assigned to assist the Cybercrime Investigation Coordinating Center (CICC) for more than one year to plan and implement various programs, projects and activities. In 2016, he was assigned as the Director in charge of the Infostructure Management Bureau of the DICT for more than 5 years, providing guidance and direction on the development and implementation of projects and activities to manage and administer government systems and infrastructure, such as but not limited to the National Public Key Infrastructure System, the Philippine Government Email System, and the Intelligent Operations Center for Disaster Preparedness and Response. He also held various executive positions in government such as the Director of the Systems and Infrastructure Management Service (SIMS) and National ICT Governance Service (NIGS) of the ICT Office of the Department of Science and Technology, and Director III under the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) managing the Policy, Planning and Research Support Service, which supports the Office in conducting researches, preparing plans, programs and policies on ICT, and providing advice and/or lead Philippine Delegation in international fora on ICT. He rose from the ranks starting as a casual Communications Planning Officer in the Telecommunications Policy and Planning Division to a Communications Development Officer, to a Supervising Communications Development Officer until he became the Officer-In-Charge of the Telecommunications Policy and Planning Division of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

He served as Country Focal Point for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Telecommunications and Information Working Group (TEL) and Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) Telecommunications and Information Senior Officials Meeting (TELSOM). He also served as Deputy Director, Director and Adviser of the ASEAN ICT Center.

He was head of various inter-agency committees such ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee (JTC)-1 Philippine Mirror Committee, to move forward the National ICT Standardization efforts, Comprehensive ICT Infrastructure Program Committee, discussing ICT infrastructure projects in government and the National Committee on ICT Statistics.

He has received Recognition for Exemplary Service in the field of Telecommunications Project Development and Policy and Regulations from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), and Institute of Electronics and Communications Engineers of the Philippines (IECEP), respectively. He received a Certificate of Commendation for his contribution as the Task Group (TG) Signal Commander of the Committee on Security, Peace and Order, Emergency and Response (CSPOEPR) for the hosting of the ASEAN 50 in the Philippines.

He has a Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management and a degree in Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP).

He is married to Dr. Leonarda V. Morata-Varilla, DMD and has two children.