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LATEST COMMENTARY

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FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

3-minute read

WHY WINNING DOES NOT END A VOTE-BUYING CASE

If a candidate has already won and been proclaimed, can a vote-buying case still cost them the position? The Supreme Court’s latest announcement on two Candijay, Bohol candidates shows why the election result does not settle everything.

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5-minute read

HOW THE NEXT CHIEF JUSTICE IS CHOSEN

The Judicial and Bar Council has finished interviewing candidates to succeed Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, who is due to retire on November 6. GMA News reported the completed interviews on October 27. The interviews are one stage of a process that gives the President a choice, but also sets limits on who can be chosen and how the appointment is made.

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4-minute read

ABOUT COMPENSATION FOR WORK-RELATED HEAT ILLNESS

If someone becomes ill while working in extreme heat, the problem can continue after the shift ends: medical bills, missed work and uncertainty about where to ask for help. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced guidelines on October 23 for heat-illness claims under the existing Employees' Compensation Program (ECP).

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5-minute read

ABOUT BATO DELA ROSA’S ₱50-MILLION BOUNTY

The DILG announced a ₱50-million bounty for Senator Bato dela Rosa’s capture on October 23. The announcement came after months of talk about a possible reward—and days after Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said authorities knew dela Rosa was in Mindanao and were negotiating for his turnover.

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Afternoon6-minute read

ABOUT THE OVP’S 2027 BUDGET AFTER A 16-MINUTE SENATE HEARING

The Office of the Vice President’s proposed budget moved through a Senate panel today in 16 minutes. Vice President Sara Duterte was absent; her chief of staff answered for the office. Yesterday’s MCT explainer looked at parliamentary courtesy. Today’s question is what that short hearing actually did to the spending plan, and what it left for the Senate to examine.

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Afternoon6-minute read

ABOUT THE EDSA BUSWAY’S 2027 BUDGET GAP

The Department of Transportation is again asking Congress to fund the EDSA Busway. Its original ₱1.756 billion request received zero in the administration’s proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program. A House budget panel later inserted ₱75 million. Those two statements describe different stages of the same budget process. Neither tells us yet what Congress will finally approve.

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Afternoon7-minute read

ABOUT DECLARING AN AMBASSADOR PERSONA NON GRATA

Several lawmakers want Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan sent home. The Chinese Embassy has challenged them to follow through. That exchange leaves an ordinary reader with a reasonable question: if our own officials say an ambassador should leave, why is he still here?

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7:23 AM5-minute read

ABOUT LINO CAYETANO AND THE CHANGE AT THE PCO

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on October 11 that Lino Cayetano would replace Dave Gomez at the Presidential Communications Office. He said Gomez had been bypassed by the Commission on Appointments and that the change would be formalized when they returned from Singapore.

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6:10 PM4-minute read

ABOUT THE DISPUTE OVER CHANGING THE ORDER OF IMPEACHMENT WITNESSES

The argument at Thursday’s impeachment hearing was about which witness the prosecution could present next. It began with an absent lawyer and became a dispute over preparation and notice. Understanding the exchange helps explain why a courtroom can pause even when the parties, documents and another potential witness are already in the building.

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3:01 PM3-minute read

ABOUT MARK VILLAR’S MOVE TO THE SENATE MAJORITY

Senator Mark Villar has formally left the Senate minority and joined the majority. The October 8 move strengthens the bloc supporting the chamber’s leadership and gives Villar two significant positions. Its implications for Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, however, require more than counting political allies.

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9:56 AM4-minute read

ABOUT THE MANAGER’S CHECKS AND THE QUESTIONS OVER SARA DUTERTE’S SALN

A bank balance can fall even when the value represented by the money has not disappeared. That distinction sits behind the prosecution’s questions about manager’s checks in Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial. To understand the October 7 testimony, we need to follow the instrument, the person entitled to its value and the declaration of assets for the relevant year.

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9:08 PM3-minute read

ABOUT WHAT COA’S REJECTION OF THE OVP APPEAL MEANS

COA has rejected the request to reconsider the ₱73.287-million disallowance involving the Office of the Vice President’s December 2022 confidential expenses. The October 5 resolution became public on October 7. Its significance is easier to understand when the amount, the audit finding and the available legal remedies are kept separate.

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7:47 AM3-minute read

ABOUT WHAT BANK SECRECY PROTECTS IN AN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

The arguments over bank records in Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial involve several protections. The privacy of a peso deposit, the protection of a foreign-currency deposit, and the confidentiality of a report sent to the AMLC come from different rules. Understanding those differences helps explain what the court has allowed and what remains in dispute.

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8:43 AM8-minute read

ABOUT THE AMLC RECORDS IN SARA DUTERTE’S IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

₱4.4 billion is a figure that can dominate a conversation before anyone asks what it counts. AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura presented that approximate total in the Senate impeachment court on October 5, covering reported transactions involving Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio. He also explained that a bank correction had reduced the earlier figure of ₱6.7 billion.

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6:44 PM5-minute read

ABOUT THE COINS.PH CASH-IN RESTRICTION AND WHAT USERS SHOULD CHECK

If you use Coins.ph to receive money or pay bills, a failed cash-in can disrupt plans for the day. Coins.ph has announced that some incoming peso services are temporarily unavailable following a BSP directive to improve its internal controls. Its advisory also identifies services that existing customers can still use.

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12:00 PM5-minute read

ABOUT THE PROPOSED RULES ON SECONDHAND PHONES

A secondhand phone can put a useful device within reach of someone who cannot afford a new one. The problem comes when the buyer has no clear information about where it came from, what condition it is in, or who will fix it if it fails.

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8:35 PM6-minute read

ABOUT THE SUPREME COURT’S DECISION ON THE IMPEACHMENT VOTE THRESHOLD

The Supreme Court dismissed three petitions on September 30 challenging how the Senate impeachment court would count the votes needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte. The dismissal leaves the Senate’s September 23 ruling in place, but it needs to be read carefully. A case can be dismissed because it does not meet the requirements for the Court to hear it, without settling whether the challenged action is constitutional.

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6:12 AM6-minute read

ABOUT WHAT BASTE DUTERTE SHOULD HAVE CHECKED AS MAYOR

Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte told the Senate impeachment court on September 29 that he had been unfamiliar with GenCorp Industries Inc. before it came up in the proceedings. He also said he did not know about Vice President Sara Duterte’s declared business interest in the company.

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10:45 PM7-minute read

ABOUT THE OCTOBER WATER-RATE INCREASES

Metro Manila households served by Maynilad and Manila Water will see slightly higher water charges beginning October 1. The announced increases are small for many residential customers, but the figures vary by concessionaire and consumption level. That makes it easy to misunderstand a notice expressed only in centavos per cubic meter.

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7:21 AM6-minute read

ABOUT THE NOTE HANDED TO GIBO TEODORO IN SEOUL

Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. was answering questions at the Seoul Defense Dialogue on September 8 when a man handed him a note. He read it aloud, challenged its rejection of the 2016 South China Sea ruling and objected to being interrupted that way.

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9:55 AM8-minute read

ABOUT EL NIÑO AND PREPARING FOR LESS RAIN

It can be raining outside while PAGASA warns about El Niño. That can sound confusing when the immediate problem is a wet road or a flooded field. The two warnings describe different periods: the weather happening now and the rainfall conditions that may develop over the coming months.

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5:30 AM8-minute read

ABOUT THE NEW ARREST WARRANTS AGAINST ZALDY CO, MARTIN ROMUALDEZ AND TWO OTHERS

The Sandiganbayan has ordered the arrest of Zaldy Co, Martin Romualdez and two other accused in the plunder case filed on September 7. By Monday evening, authorities had served Romualdez's warrant and carried out booking procedures at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan. His arrest is a confirmed development; it does not establish that his three co-accused are also in custody.

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3:15 PM8-minute read

ABOUT THE PLUNDER CASE AGAINST MARTIN ROMUALDEZ

The Office of the Ombudsman filed a plunder case against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez at the Sandiganbayan on September 7 over his alleged involvement in flood-control kickbacks. The accusations have now reached the court that will handle the criminal case. Romualdez denies wrongdoing and remains presumed innocent.

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1:18 PM7-minute read

ABOUT THE NEW SWS POVERTY NUMBERS

Self-rated poverty and food poverty declined in June, but the figures also show how many Filipino families remain under pressure and why lower household budgets do not necessarily mean life became cheaper.

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2:02 PM11-minute read

ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY ACT

House Bill No. 9965 would bar children below 13 from having social media accounts, require parental consent for users aged 13 to 17, regulate platform algorithms, and impose fines reaching P50 million. It is still being deliberated in the House.

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12:02 PM7-minute read

ABOUT THE SEALED BIR BOX

Marcos authorized the BIR to comply with the Senate subpoena. That did not open the records to the public or prove the unexplained-wealth allegation.

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August 11, 2026 · 12:58 PM11-minute read

ABOUT THE PROPOSED NATIONAL AI GOVERNANCE ACT

The proposal would add rights over automated decisions, six months’ notice for major workplace AI changes, deepfake rules, and environmental disclosure for AI infrastructure. It is not law yet.

MCT cover for the proposed National AI Governance Act, showing a Filipino worker reviewing an automated system

Artificial intelligence can help screen a job application, score a loan request, monitor a worker, answer a customer, create a photograph, or recommend who receives a service. A person affected by one of those decisions may never know that a computer system helped make it.

House Bill No. 10362, filed on July 29, 2026, proposes a National AI Governance Act. It was introduced by Akbayan Representatives Chel Diokno, Percival Cendaña and Dadah Kiram Ismula, together with Dinagat Islands Representative Kaka Bag-ao.

The bill is still a proposal. Its rights, employer duties and penalties cannot be demanded or enforced today. It must pass the House and Senate and be signed by the President, or allowed to lapse into law, before it can take effect.

The Philippines already has a Data Privacy Act, rules on automated decision-making and a National AI Strategy Roadmap. This proposal would add a broader set of rights and duties covering workers, government agencies, schools, businesses, AI developers, online content and the infrastructure used to run AI systems.

Here are five things to know.

1

YOU COULD ASK FOR A HUMAN REVIEW OF AN IMPORTANT AI-ASSISTED DECISION

The proposed AI Bill of Rights would require a person to be told when a high-impact AI system or automated decision-making process is being used on or about them. The notice would have to explain the system's nature and purpose in plain language.

A person could also ask for the principal factors that influenced an automated decision, although the bill allows limits for trade secrets and other protected information. The person could request a meaningful review by a human being who has the authority and competence to confirm, change or reverse the decision.

This could apply when an AI system helps decide whether someone is hired, promoted, disciplined, granted a loan, admitted to a school or given a government benefit. If an applicant is rejected because a system incorrectly matched a name, address or past record, a human review could provide a way to correct the mistake before it follows the person into another application.

Some protection already exists. The National Privacy Commission says people have a right to be informed about automated decision-making involving their personal data. Privacy rules also restrict decisions with legal effects when they are based solely on automated processing without the person's consent. House Bill No. 10362 would state additional rights to protection from discriminatory automated decisions, safety, an explanation of the principal factors and meaningful human review.

The bill does not yet supply a complete complaint procedure. It does not set one response deadline for every request or identify one office that will resolve every AI complaint. Its definition of high-impact AI is broad, covering systems that may significantly affect rights, safety, livelihood, opportunities, essential services or wellbeing. The proposal does not give a specific list of covered systems. Those details could determine whether human review becomes a useful remedy or another request that takes months to answer.

WHAT TO WATCH

Watch the House committee version for specific criteria identifying high-impact AI, a deadline for responding to review requests and a clear complaint route. These provisions will determine whether a rejected applicant can obtain a correction before losing a job, loan, school place or public benefit.

2

EMPLOYERS WOULD HAVE TO GIVE SIX MONTHS' NOTICE BEFORE A MAJOR AI CHANGE

An employer planning to use high-impact AI that is reasonably expected to substantially alter, reduce or replace the core functions of an employee would have to give at least six months' written notice.

The notice would have to explain the purpose and scope of the system, the work functions affected, the data it will use and how it may influence assignments, performance evaluation, scheduling, hiring, promotion, discipline, pay or termination. Employers would also have to disclose the available retraining, redeployment and transition assistance.

Employees and registered unions would have to be consulted before deployment. A worker facing termination because of AI automation would have to receive reasonable reskilling or upskilling free of charge. If termination still happens, the worker would receive separation benefits under existing law and transition support to be determined by the Department of Labor and Employment.

The bill would also protect a worker from discipline for errors caused by an employer-mandated AI system when the employer failed to provide adequate training, supervision or safeguards. It would prohibit the use of AI to evade security of tenure, minimum wage, benefits and the right to organize.

For a call-center agent, clerk, designer, accountant or other worker whose daily tasks are being changed by AI, six months could provide time to learn a new role, apply for another position or prepare a household budget. Consultation, however, does not give employees a veto over the company's decision. The bill also leaves terms such as "substantially alter" and "reasonable reskilling" open for later rules or interpretation.

For an employer, a fixed six-month period could delay a response to a new technology or a sudden change in its market. Congress will have to decide which changes are large enough to trigger the rule and how employers prove that the required consultation and training were genuine.

The International Labour Organization estimates that more than one in four Philippine jobs are exposed to generative AI, but exposure means that some tasks can be changed or automated. It does not mean that all 12.7 million exposed jobs will disappear. The ILO places 3.6 percent of jobs in the highest exposure category with an elevated displacement risk. The more common result may be a change in what workers do and how their performance is measured.

WHAT TO WATCH

Watch for hearings involving the labor department, employers, unions and the IT-BPM sector. The committee must decide which workplace systems trigger six months' notice, what training an employer must provide and how DOLE will enforce the duty before a worker is displaced.

3

SOME DEEPFAKES AND OTHER HARMFUL AI USES COULD LEAD TO PRISON

The bill would prohibit the use of AI for identity theft, fraud, deceptive impersonation, child abuse or exploitation, unlawful surveillance and several forms of deceptive synthetic media.

Synthetic media includes AI-generated or AI-altered audio, video and images. The bill would require clear and conspicuous disclosure when synthetic media materially and deceptively alters or realistically depicts a person, statement, event or circumstance in a way likely to mislead the public.

It would also prohibit deceptive synthetic media intended for fraud, public harm, unlawful manipulation or infringement of rights. A person who willfully or knowingly performs, aids, permits or causes a prohibited act could face imprisonment from six months to six years. A public official convicted under the provision could receive temporary or permanent disqualification from public office, while a convicted foreign national could be deported.

This could cover an AI recording made to sound like a relative asking for emergency money, a fabricated video used to damage a candidate, or a false image used to impersonate a person. The proposal does not criminalize every edited photograph, parody or ordinary use of an AI tool. Criminal liability is tied to the prohibited conduct and the requirement that the act be done willfully or knowingly.

The filed text does not define phrases such as "public harm," "unlawful manipulation" and "other unlawful uses." Those terms could cover a wide range of conduct. Congress will have to specify the acts that can lead to prison and clarify how the provision applies to legitimate satire, art, commentary, journalism and harmless editing.

Existing laws already punish conduct such as fraud, identity misuse, child exploitation and some cybercrimes. The proposed act would place AI-specific conduct and synthetic-media disclosure in one framework. Prosecutors and courts would still need to identify the actual prohibited act and prove the required knowledge and intent.

WHAT TO WATCH

Watch for the exact wording of the prohibited-acts section after committee hearings. Clear definitions of deceptive synthetic media, public harm, satire and disclosure will affect both the prosecution of scams and the freedom to create lawful political, journalistic and artistic content.

4

THE BILL WOULD PUT DICT IN CHARGE OF COORDINATION, BUT MANY REMEDIES ARE STILL UNCLEAR

The Department of Information and Communications Technology would lead implementation with help from a multi-sector advisory council. Government members would include the privacy, labor, science, trade, education, energy, planning and local-government agencies. The council would also include representatives from academe, labor, consumer and digital-rights groups, media, youth and the technology industry.

DICT would prepare a national AI strategy within one year and update it every three years. It could establish standards, promote AI literacy, support research, operate regulatory sandboxes and require impact assessments where authorized. A sandbox allows a new system to be tested on a limited scale under supervision. Participation would not excuse a company from liability for harm.

The bill would also require a national AI literacy program in schools and public education for adults and senior citizens. Materials would have to be available in Filipino and major regional languages. For families encountering fake videos, automated scams or AI-generated schoolwork, basic literacy may provide a more immediate benefit than a technical strategy document.

The proposal allows a person injured by negligent, reckless, discriminatory, deceptive or unlawful AI use to sue the deployer, operator or user under existing laws. A developer or provider may also be included in certain cases, such as when the system was primarily designed for illegal use, the provider knew of the illegal use and failed to act, or the system lacked safeguards proportionate to its risk.

A civil case requires time, legal assistance and filing expenses that many Filipinos may struggle to afford. The bill does not create a single independent AI regulator, a complete administrative complaint process or a schedule of administrative fines for every violation. Existing regulators would keep their powers, which means a complaint might belong with the privacy commission, labor department, another sector regulator, a prosecutor or a court depending on the harm.

The proposed right to be forgotten would require deletion of personal data from training datasets, repositories and operational parameters. The bill allows machine unlearning or model retraining when simple deletion is not enough. That remedy may work differently across systems, especially when a model was trained abroad, the data came from several sources or removing one person's influence requires expensive retraining.

WHAT TO WATCH

Watch for a designated complaint office, filing procedure, response deadlines and a specific implementation budget. The bill says initial implementation would come from DICT's current appropriations. Without personnel, technical auditors and an affordable complaint route, people may hold rights that are difficult to use.

5

AI DATA CENTERS WOULD HAVE TO REPORT THEIR USE OF WATER AND ELECTRICITY

AI does not exist only on a phone or laptop. Training and operating large systems require data centers filled with computers. Those facilities consume electricity for processing and water or other systems for cooling.

House Bill No. 10362 would require AI-related data centers and infrastructure to follow environmental laws, undergo environmental impact assessment and obtain an environmental compliance certificate when applicable. Operators would have to consult communities affected or displaced by their projects.

They would also have to disclose material annual energy and water use, sustainability measures and plans for renewable energy and efficiency, subject to lawful confidentiality limits. DICT would work with the environment and energy departments on standards.

For a community being considered for a large data-center project, the practical questions are local: how much electricity and water will the facility use, where will those resources come from, whether rates or supply could be affected, what jobs will be created and what environmental risks will remain. Annual disclosure would give residents and regulators figures that can be compared with the promises made before construction.

The bill does not set a numerical ceiling for energy or water use. It also does not specify the disclosure format, the threshold for "material" use or the penalty for an incomplete sustainability report. Those details will decide whether disclosure produces comparable public information or a collection of company statements using different measurements.

The proposal applies more widely than Philippine data centers. It covers public and private persons or organizations that develop, deploy, operate, provide or use AI in the country, as well as AI systems that affect people and institutions in the Philippines. Reaching an overseas provider with no meaningful local presence could still be difficult even if the law says the system is covered.

WHAT TO WATCH

Watch for the energy and environment agencies' positions on a standard disclosure form, measurable thresholds and community consultation. Residents need figures that show a project's expected demand before approval and its actual use after operations begin.

BOTTOM LINE

House Bill No. 10362 tries to answer several problems at once: unexplained automated decisions, worker displacement, deceptive AI content, weak public understanding, uncertain responsibility for harm and the resource use of AI infrastructure. Several provisions state specific duties. A person could request human review. A worker could receive six months' notice of a major workplace change. A data-center operator could be required to disclose water and energy use. Several parts still depend on definitions, procedures, staffing and money that the filed bill does not fully provide. Congress must decide which AI systems are high-impact, where an ordinary person files a complaint, how quickly agencies must respond, what employers owe displaced workers and how broad criminal language will be applied. For now, none of these proposed rights and duties is law. The next useful evidence will come from the committee hearings and any substitute bill they produce. That text will show which protections survive detailed scrutiny and whether people can realistically use them.

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