Marcos EO sets up national council on AI development
President Marcos has signed an executive order setting broad parameters and directions for the government as artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly becomes part of daily life, giving rise to both opportunities and concerns in the business sector, the job market, the education system, the media, and other tech-driven fields.
Signed by the President on Nov. 12, Executive Order No. 131 primarily creates the National AI Council (Naic), an interagency body responsible for coordinating, facilitating and monitoring the implementation of the national Al framework, Palace press officer Claire Castro announced on Saturday.
“Through this executive order, the President recognizes the importance of AI in improving the lives of Filipinos, not just in advancing technology,” Castro said at a briefing at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit’s International Media Center in Pasay City.
“Its goal is to ensure that AI is implemented responsibly, safely, and ethically, with adequate safeguards to maintain public trust,” she added.
Castro also said the order seeks to ensure that AI development delivers concrete benefits to workers, businesses, communities, and the entire country.
Important elements
“There is a need to establish a mechanism for coordinated action that will accelerate the implementation of the Al Governance Framework and strengthen collaboration, operationalization, and monitoring of efforts among government agencies, together with the private sector, academe, civil society, and other relevant stakeholders, to ensure the timely and accountable execution of its key strategies,” the order stated.
EO 131, as published in The Official Gazette, outlines four frameworks of “interconnected elements”:
• Ethics and principles, which ensures that any AI development and deployment is guided by transparency and “human centricity,” empowering and protecting human beings rather than undermining them.
• Standards and assurance, which requires that appropriate technical standards, testing and evaluation and other mechanisms support the responsible, safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of Al.
• Risk-based policy toolkit, which provides that government measures must be “proportionate to the nature, context, and level of risk and may include general and sector-specific guidelines”.
• Enabling resources, which mandates the government to strengthen institutions, data research and development, capabilities, infrastructure, and demand generation to support responsible Al development, deployment and use.
The executive order directs the NAIC to review the framework at least once every two years, or earlier “when warranted by significant technological, regulatory, or market developments […].”
Upskilling, reskilling
Since 2024, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has been pushing for the National AI Strategy for the Philippines (NAIS-PH) to guide AI’s development and deployment through 2028.
The government approved NAIS-PH in May 2025 to serve as the strategic direction for the development and adoption of Al in the country.
In August, Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. noted that, “For years, AI projects across the government were energetic but scattered.”
Solidum had said that at the center of the national framework were five core strategies: infrastructure, workforce, innovation, ethics and policy, and deployment.
He has emphasized the importance of upskilling and reskilling the country’s workforce through expanding AI programs with the help of higher education institutions.
A research brief by the International Labor Organization (ILO) published in February noted that, based on a global index of occupation-based exposure, “more than one-quarter of employment, or 12.7 million [workers], are exposed to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the Philippines.”
It said that this exposure rate was the highest among member-states of the Asean.
“However, exposure does not equate necessarily to full job replacement but rather the automation of tasks within occupations,” the ILO said. It estimated that only 3.6 percent of jobs fall into the highest GenAI exposure category with “elevated risk of job displacement.”
“Rather than outright automation, the most significant impact of GenAI on the Philippine labor market is likely to be the transformation of jobs, potential gains in productivity and enhanced employment quality,” it said.
Affordable, accessible AI
In a video message delivered earlier at the Asean Business and Investment Summit 2026, Mr. Marcos called on businesses across Southeast Asia to make AI tools more affordable and accessible to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
He said MSMEs must be equipped with technology to compete in an increasingly technology-driven economy.
“For MSMEs, we are advancing an approach that brings AI adoption together with training and practical support,” the President said. “Our aim is to help entrepreneurs spend less time on repetitive tasks, make better use of their resources, and reach more customers.”
He said the Philippines was making the responsible use of AI a priority in its development agenda.
