Philippines AI Regulation Overview

Overview

The Philippines' artificial intelligence regulatory landscape is currently characterized by a combination of executive roadmap strategies, binding privacy guidelines, targeted electoral resolutions, and a broad range of proposed legislative measures. Early national efforts centered on non-binding policy frameworks such as the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) National AI Strategy Roadmap (NAISR 1.0) launched in May 2021 and the Department of Science and Technology's (DOST) AI National Roadmap (2019-2029). These roadmap frameworks prioritize research infrastructure, economic competitiveness, workforce development, and mission-driven applications in key public sectors.

Transitioning toward formal regulatory governance, the country introduced binding rules for specific high-stakes domains. In September 2024, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) promulgated Resolution No. 11064, establishing mandatory disclosures and strict prohibitions on deceptive AI deepfakes during electoral campaigns. In December 2024, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) issued Advisory No. 2024-04, applying the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) to AI systems processing personal data across their entire lifecycle. Meanwhile, multiple legislative proposals remain pending in Congress—including House Bills 7396, 7913, 7983, 9448, and 10567—aiming to create dedicated AI authorities, establish an AI Bill of Rights, safeguard labor against automation, and set deepfake accountability measures.

Regulatory Approach

The Philippines relies on a hybrid regulatory approach that balances soft-law strategic promotion with enforceable sectoral requirements and privacy compliance. Broad national strategies, such as NAISR 1.0 and the DOST AI National Roadmap, employ non-binding guidelines to foster multi-stakeholder collaboration, R&D funding, high-performance computing infrastructure, and public-private innovation testbeds. These foundational policies frame AI as an engine for industrial competitiveness and socio-economic transformation while deferring hard legal mandates to sectoral authorities.

In contrast, domain-specific enforcement operates through binding instruments issued under existing statutory mandates. COMELEC Resolution No. 11064 imposes direct prohibitions and registration rules for AI-generated political campaign content. Similarly, NPC Advisory No. 2024-04 creates binding obligations on Personal Information Controllers (PICs) and Processors (PIPs), mandating Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs), bias testing, explainability, and human intervention for high-risk automated decision-making. Pending congressional bills reflect a movement toward institutionalizing risk-based supervision and rights-based protections, such as proposed classifications for high-risk AI systems in House Bill 7396 and rights protections under House Bill 7913.

Key AI Legislation

• COMELEC Resolution No. 11064 (2024): Binding regulation prohibiting malicious deepfakes, synthetic media, and coordinated inauthentic behavior in elections, while establishing mandatory AI labels and digital platform registration for the 2025 elections.
• NPC Advisory No. 2024-04 (2024): Enforceable guidelines clarifying the application of the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) across the AI lifecycle, mandating transparency, human oversight, privacy-enhancing technologies, and bias mitigation.
• DOST AI National Roadmap (2019–2029): Strategic framework launched under the 'AI for Better Normal' initiative focusing on R&D infrastructure, workforce training, and mission-driven AI applications across healthcare, agriculture, disaster risk reduction, and smart cities.
• National AI Strategy Roadmap (NAISR 1.0) (2021): Policy document led by DTI outlining strategic dimensions for AI adoption, MSME digitalization, data architecture, research hubs, and socio-economic integration.
• House Bill No. 10567 (Deepfake Accountability and Transparency Act): Pending bill mandating visual and verbal disclosures for deepfakes, granting regulatory oversight to DICT in coordination with COMELEC, and imposing penalties up to PHP 5 million.
• House Bill No. 7913 (Artificial Intelligence Regulation Act): Pending bill proposing an 'AI Bill of Rights' (safety, non-discrimination, privacy, transparency, remedy) and establishing the Philippine Council on Artificial Intelligence (PCAI) and Artificial Intelligence Board (AIB).
• House Bill No. 7396 (Artificial Intelligence Development Act): Pending bill proposing the creation of the Artificial Intelligence Development Authority (AIDA) under the Office of the President to establish national standards, licensing regimes, and high-risk AI oversight.
• House Bill No. 7983 (National Center for AI Research Establishment Act): Pending bill seeking to establish the National Center for Artificial Intelligence Research (NCAIR) attached to DICT to consolidate domestic AI R&D capabilities.
• House Bill No. 9448 (Protection of Labor Against AI Automation Act): Pending bill prohibiting worker displacement by AI without equivalent alternative employment, banning solely AI-driven employment decisions, and establishing DOLE oversight.

Governance & Enforcement Bodies

Institutional oversight for AI in the Philippines is distributed across several key government departments and specialized bodies according to their existing statutory mandates. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), primarily through the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) and the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI), leads national AI research, R&D funding, and high-performance computing infrastructure. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) drives economic AI strategy, industry adoption, and MSME digitalization under NAISR 1.0.

For privacy and electoral oversight, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) enforces data protection laws across AI personal data processing, requiring organizations to designate Data Protection Officers and execute Privacy Impact Assessments. In electoral contexts, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) exercises quasi-judicial and regulatory oversight via Task Force Katotohanan, Katapatan, at Katarungan (KKK) sa Halalan, coordinating with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC). Proposed legislation envisions centralized authorities, such as the Artificial Intelligence Development Authority (AIDA) under HB 7396 or the Philippine Council on Artificial Intelligence (PCAI) and Artificial Intelligence Board (AIB) under HB 7913.

Penalties & Enforcement

Penalties and enforcement mechanisms in the Philippines depend on the specific legal basis under which AI non-compliance occurs. Under COMELEC Resolution No. 11064, election-related AI violations carry criminal charges under the Omnibus Election Code, potential disqualification from public office, substantial administrative fines, mandatory content takedown orders, and suspension or revocation of campaign privileges. Enforcement is spearheaded by COMELEC's Task Force KKK sa Halalan, which issues show-cause orders and coordinates rapid content removal through expedited channels established with major social media platforms.

In proposed legislation, penalty structures reflect severe sanctions for non-compliance. House Bill 10567 imposes administrative fines up to PHP 5 million (approximately USD 90,000) for creators and distributors failing to include required deepfake disclosures, alongside content takedown orders and potential criminal prosecution for cyber libel or fraud. Under House Bill 7396 and House Bill 7913, regulatory bodies like AIDA and AIB are granted authority to issue warnings, impose administrative fines, suspend AI system operations, revoke licenses for high-risk applications, and refer willful violations to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.

Data Protection Framework

The primary statutory foundation for AI data governance in the Philippines is Republic Act No. 10173, known as the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA). On December 19, 2024, the National Privacy Commission issued NPC Advisory No. 2024-04, formally establishing that the DPA applies across the entire lifecycle of AI systems that process personal data—from dataset collection, model training, and testing to deployment and operational monitoring. Personal Information Controllers (PICs) and Personal Information Processors (PIPs) must uphold core privacy principles: transparency, legitimate purpose, proportionality, fairness, and data minimization.

NPC Advisory No. 2024-04 establishes explicit requirements for automated processing and decision-making. Automated decisions producing legal or significant effects require explicit consent and meaningful human oversight by qualified, authorized personnel. PICs are obligated to implement Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs) like differential privacy, federated learning, and synthetic data, while maintaining data subjects' rights to access, rectify, erase, or object to processing even after data integration into AI datasets. Organizations deploying high-risk AI must conduct Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs), maintain detailed processing logs, establish AI Ethics Committees, and implement continuous bias monitoring.

Sector-Specific Rules

Sector-specific AI regulation in the Philippines is currently emerging through domain-focused guidelines and pending legislative acts. In the electoral sector, COMELEC Resolution No. 11064 establishes rigorous prohibitions against synthetic media, deepfakes, bots, and coordinated inauthentic behavior targeting the 2025 national and local elections. It requires registration of all digital campaign platforms by December 13, 2024, clear sponsor disclosures for paid influencer content, and mandatory, persistent labels on permitted AI campaign materials detailing the exact nature of AI synthetic manipulation.

In labor and employment, proposed House Bill No. 9448 establishes protective constraints on workplace automation. The bill prohibits employers from replacing human workers with AI if it causes job displacement, tenure loss, or salary reduction, unless equivalent alternative employment is provided. It explicitly prohibits employment decisions (hiring, promotion, termination) based solely on AI outputs, mandates human oversight, and guarantees workers the right to object to AI evaluations without retaliation. In research and healthcare, the DOST AI National Roadmap guides targeted AI development in medical imaging diagnostics, epidemic surveillance, precision agriculture, and disaster management, coordinating with sector regulators such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for finance and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for medical applications.

International Alignment

The Philippines aligns its national AI governance frameworks with established international ethics principles and regional guidelines. NPC Advisory No. 2024-04 explicitly references international frameworks, including UNESCO's Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and the OECD AI Principles, adapting global standards on transparency, fairness, human oversight, and bias mitigation to the domestic legal context. Similarly, national policy roadmaps—such as DTI's NAISR 1.0 and HB 7396—draw inspiration from major international developments including the European Union AI Act, ISO/IEEE standard-setting initiatives, and ASEAN digital economy frameworks.

International collaboration forms a core component of the country's research and strategic roadmaps. DOST maintains active bilateral research partnerships with leading AI institutions in Japan (RIKEN, University of Tokyo), South Korea (KAIST), the United States, and Europe to facilitate knowledge transfer and researcher mobility. Furthermore, proposed entities like AIDA (HB 7396) and PCAI (HB 7913) are mandated to monitor global regulatory trends, participate in international technical standards bodies, and ensure domestic regulations remain interoperable with major global trading partners while safeguarding local socio-economic priorities.

Future Developments

The future of AI regulation in the Philippines centers on the potential passage of comprehensive legislation currently pending in the 19th Congress. Key bills under committee review include House Bill 7396, establishing the Artificial Intelligence Development Authority (AIDA); House Bill 7913, proposing a statutory AI Bill of Rights; House Bill 7983, establishing the National Center for Artificial Intelligence Research (NCAIR) under DICT; House Bill 9448, setting labor protections against automation displacement; and House Bill 10567, imposing strict deepfake accountability measures ahead of electoral cycles.

In addition to legislative deliberations, executive agencies are advancing policy iterations. DTI launched NAISR 2.0 in July 2024 alongside the establishment of a government Center for AI Research (CAIR), while DOST proposed a unified National AI Strategy (NAIS-Ph) in April 2025 to harmonize research and program implementation. As these legislative and administrative efforts unfold, the Philippines continues to develop a layered regulatory ecosystem combining data privacy enforcement, electoral integrity rules, and strategic research infrastructure.

Enforcement Bodies

Agency	Mandate	Key Powers	Website
Commission on Elections (COMELEC)	Constitutional body administering elections and enforcing Resolution No. 11064 regarding AI electoral campaign content.	Issues show-cause orders, monitors digital platforms via Task Force KKK sa Halalan, orders content takedowns, and imposes election law sanctions.
National Privacy Commission (NPC)	Regulatory authority enforcing the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) and Advisory No. 2024-04 for AI personal data processing.	Conducts privacy compliance audits, investigates violations, issues advisories and compliance orders, and imposes administrative penalties.
Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)	Primary agency for digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, and policy support; co-regulator under pending HB 10567 and host for NCAIR under HB 7983.	Monitors online platforms for non-compliant deepfakes, sets technical disclosure standards, and provides cybersecurity support.
Department of Science and Technology (DOST)	Primary agency directing scientific R&D and implementing the DOST AI National Roadmap (2019–2029).	Manages R&D grant funding via PCIEERD, operates high-performance computing facilities via ASTI, and establishes research priorities.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)	Lead agency for economic development and implementation of the National AI Strategy Roadmap (NAISR 1.0 & 2.0).	Formulates national economic AI strategies, supports MSME digitalization, and drives private sector AI adoption.
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)	Primary labor regulatory authority overseeing workplace AI and automation policies under proposed HB 9448.	Reviews employer AI governance policies, conducts labor inspections, investigates displacement complaints, and enforces compliance.