AI regulation in Philippines (2026)

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved the NAIS-PH at a Malacañang sectoral meeting, establishing the Philippines' first presidential-level AI strategy through 2028 with five pillars — infrastructure, workforce, innovation, data governance/policy, and sectoral AI deployment in healthcare and agriculture. It supersedes and elevates prior DTI roadmaps into a whole-of-government directive.

The National Privacy Commission issued its first formal AI-specific guidance, applying the Data Privacy Act (RA 10173) to the full AI lifecycle — training, testing, and deployment — requiring lawful basis determination, fairness, bias monitoring, and accountability for all personal data processed by AI systems.

The Commission on Elections prohibited deepfakes and AI-generated disinformation in campaign materials, required clear disclosure labels on all AI-generated content, and designated AI misuse as an election offense enforceable by Task Force KKK — the first election-specific AI enforcement framework in Philippine history.

The Department of Trade and Industry adopted an updated national AI roadmap incorporating generative AI trends, establishing the Center for AI Research (CAIR) in partnership with AWS and AI Singapore, and projecting up to PHP 2.6 trillion in annual GDP gains — formally superseding the 2021 NAISR 1.0.

DICT and the CSC circulated a draft JMC prescribing ethical and trustworthy AI principles for all executive-branch agencies, GOCCs, state universities, and LGUs — the first government-wide AI governance instrument for the Philippine public sector, covering accountability, transparency, and human oversight.

HB 7913 proposed an 'AI Bill of Rights' protecting individuals from unsafe AI, algorithmic discrimination, and privacy violations, and called for creation of a Philippine Council on Artificial Intelligence (PCAI) and an Artificial Intelligence Board (AIB) to oversee governance — one of the most sweeping AI proposals before the 19th Congress.

HB 7396 proposed an AI Development Authority (AIDA) under the Office of the President with licensing, certification, and national strategy functions — one of several competing AI framework bills that remained pending through the end of the 19th Congress in 2025.

Senator Pia Cayetano filed SB 852 proposing a National AI Commission under DOST, a four-tier risk classification (unacceptable/high/limited/minimal), prohibitions on behavior-manipulating AI, and mandatory transparency and human oversight for high-risk systems — the most EU-aligned legislative proposal in the 20th Congress.

The DTI, in coordination with DICT, DOST, NEDA, and other agencies, released the Philippines' first whole-of-nation AI strategy with seven strategic imperatives and a projection that AI could boost GDP by 12% (~USD 92 billion) by 2030 — the founding policy document for Philippine AI governance.

The NPC issued the Implementing Rules and Regulations for RA 10173, operationalising security, breach notification, and accountability standards that are now the primary enforceable legal basis applied to AI systems processing personal data in the Philippines.

President Aquino signed RA 10173, creating the National Privacy Commission and establishing the Philippines' foundational data protection framework. Though predating AI, its principles of transparency, legitimate purpose, and proportionality now serve as the primary legal constraints on AI systems that process personal data — enforceable with up to seven years imprisonment and fines up to PHP 5 million.