On 12 November 2026, the Philippines' AI governance framework formally took effect: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order No. 131 that day, adopting the Artificial Intelligence Governance Framework for the Philippines as national policy and creating a National Artificial Intelligence Council to coordinate its implementation. Palace Press Officer Claire Castro announced the move on 14 November, and the Official Gazette uploaded the full text of the order the same day. This is not a new law that fines companies directly. It is a national governance arrangement that builds the structure first and fills in the detailed rules later: anyone doing AI business in the Philippines, or supplying AI systems to the Philippine government, should now watch what this council does next.
What the framework covers: four parts, principles first, tools second
The framework has four parts: ethics and principles, standards and assurance, a risk-based policy toolkit, and enabling resources. Six principles come first: transparency and explainability, security and safety, accountability and integrity, human centricity, fairness and equity, and sustainable development. The toolkit is the most concrete part: sectoral or general guidelines, AI impact assessments, regulatory sandboxes, a review of existing laws, and coordinated complaint mechanisms. The data and R&D working group must build secure data systems under the data privacy law and improve dataset quality and interoperability. The order states that existing sector regulators keep their mandates; it creates no new regulator and sets no penalties.
Who runs it: the council, five working groups and quarterly reporting
The council reports directly to the President. The Executive Secretary chairs it, the Secretary of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development serves as vice chair, and that department acts as secretariat. Members include the secretaries of the seven departments for information and communications technology, science and technology, trade and industry, finance, education, labor and employment, and budget and management, plus the chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education and the director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. There is also one private-sector representative, appointed by the President from business-group nominees for a three-year term, renewable once. Five technical working groups cover institutions, data and R&D, capabilities, infrastructure, and demand generation, each drawing up an action plan covering responsible agencies, deliverables, timelines, and performance indicators. The Department of Information and Communications Technology will build a digital monitoring platform, agencies will update it every quarter, the council will report to the President within 30 days after each quarter ends, the framework will be reviewed at least every two years, and an interim secretariat must be set up within 30 days of the order taking effect.
What companies should do now: align with the principles, don't wait for the detailed rules
First, check whether you are in scope: the framework binds government departments and public programmes first, but companies that supply systems to the government, take part in public procurement, or work with Philippine institutions will be expected to align. Second, audit yourself against the six principles: keep records on data provenance, explainability, and impact assessments now, so you can plug straight into the sandboxes and sector guidelines when they arrive. Third, watch the timetable: the interim secretariat is due within 30 days, and once quarterly reporting starts, the first sector guidelines and sandbox arrangements may arrive with the working groups' action plans. The risk is reading the framework in either extreme: it is neither "already compliant" nor "no compliance needed" — it imposes no fines today, but its guidelines, sandbox access, and public procurement conditions will tighten step by step. Compare the EU AI Act's two new bans taking effect on 2 December: part of the same tightening wave, but the Philippine package sets no fines, creates no new regulator, and applies only within the Philippines — don't treat it as a global rule.
