On 28 November 2025, UNESCO formally handed over its “AI Readiness Assessment Report: Anchoring Ethics in AI Governance in the Philippines” to the Department of Science and Technology (Philippines) (DOST), marking a watershed moment in the nation’s journey toward responsible and inclusive adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). (The United Nations in Philippines)
The report — prepared under the auspices of the Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM) developed by UNESCO evaluates the country’s AI landscape across five key dimensions: legal/regulatory; socio-cultural; economic; scientific/educational; and technical/infrastructural. (The United Nations in Philippines)
According to UNESCO, this readiness exercise is meant to complement the existing National AI Strategy for the Philippines (NAIS-PH) and lend ethical grounding to future AI governance and rollout plans. (The United Nations in Philippines)
What the Report Found: Gaps, Strengths and Warnings?
Regulatory and Governance Shortfalls
One of the central findings of the report is that the Philippines currently lacks a single, dedicated lead agency for AI governance. Rather than a clear, unified regulator, the country relies on a patchwork of existing laws, such as the Data Privacy Act of 2020 and the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 to address issues like data protection, cybersecurity and cross-border data flow. (The United Nations in Philippines)
While those laws provide useful building blocks, stakeholders told UNESCO that they are not enough to fully capture the novel risks posed by AI — including accountability for algorithmic decisions, transparency, and cross-sector data handling. This makes a compelling case for formal, AI-specific governance. (UNESCO Digital Library)
Socio-Cultural Hurdles: Connectivity, Trust, Inclusion
The report flags the lack of affordable, reliable, and accessible broadband internet as a major obstacle to raising AI and digital literacy across the archipelago , a problem especially acute outside major urban centres. (The United Nations in Philippines)
Still, there are encouraging shifts: the Philippines has reportedly made strides in narrowing gender disparities in digital access, and there is growing awareness about AI ethics across government, academia, industry and civil society. However, public trust remains fragile. Concerns persist around job displacement, transparency, explainability of AI systems, regulatory compliance, and data misuse. (The United Nations in Philippines)
In short: while many stakeholders are excited about AI’s potential, broad-based confidence remains uneven — emphasising the need for transparent, inclusive, and culturally grounded AI governance.
Economic, Scientific and Innovation Constraints
On the economic front, the report projects a rapid expansion: the national AI market is estimated to hit US$ 3,487.7 million by 2030. (The United Nations in Philippines)
Still, UNESCO raises concern over the Philippines’ low domestic capacity for research and development (R&D). The report notes that gross expenditure on R&D as a share of GDP has historically been low, suppressing long-term innovation potential, especially in sectors such as IT-BPO, agriculture, manufacturing and logistics. (UNESCO)
Additionally, data from 2024 suggest that a large portion of the Filipino population lacks basic ICT skills — including even fundamental competencies like using email or word-processing software — which seriously undermines the country’s readiness to train and deploy large-scale AI talent. (UNESCO)
What UNESCO and Philippines’ Government Are Planning Next?
In response to the gaps identified, the report issues a set of clear policy recommendations. At the top of the list: embedding ethics in AI policy not as a mere afterthought, but rooted in the Philippines’ unique socioeconomic, cultural and historical context. According to UNESCO, this will require locally driven academic, sociological and even anthropological research, rather than merely importing “Western” abstractions of AI ethics. (The United Nations in Philippines)
The report also recommends significantly ramping up funding for capacity building, research and development. A proposed mechanism is the establishment of a dedicated “National AI Research Fund” under DOST’s research arm (PCIEERD), to support local AI research and innovation. (The United Nations in Philippines)
Further, the Philippines’ authorities have announced ambitious investment plans. During the handover event, DOST Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. revealed that the department is prepared to invest over 9.9 billion Philippine Pesos across AI-related projects spanning healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, environment, disaster risk reduction, data infrastructure, and more. (DOST)
As part of this push, the government is building AI-friendly infrastructure: from a new national data centre, to high-performance computing facilities (COARE), and a democratized repository of pre-trained AI models (DIMER) for researchers, start-ups and local government units. (DOST)
Importantly, the Philippines plans to leverage the Readiness Assessment as a foundation for the next phase: the Ethical Impact Assessment (EIA) another tool under UNESCO’s AI governance framework designed to anticipate and manage AI-related risks. (DOST)
Global and Regional Context — Why This Matters Beyond the Philippines
The work being done in the Philippines is part of a broader push by UNESCO to move from high-level ethical pronouncements to actual, context-aware governance frameworks. As UNESCO argues, ethical AI should not just be about universal platitudes, but about situating AI governance in each society’s distinct cultural, social and economic reality. (UNESCO)
Globally, AI has entered a phase where rapid adoption especially of generative AI and large-scale machine learning models has sparked concerns about fairness, data privacy, labor displacement, algorithmic bias, and democratic accountability. Experts have cautioned that responsible AI requires multi-stakeholder governance, transparency, standards, auditability, and long-term commitment. (arXiv)
By investing in research capacity, infrastructure, transparent governance and public-private collaboration, the Philippines is attempting to navigate these challenges early turning AI from a disruptive novelty into a tool for sustainable development, economic inclusion, and social benefit.
In the Southeast Asian region, such efforts align with broader initiatives to formulate “responsible AI roadmaps.” For example, regional policy frameworks call on governments to balance innovation with safeguards, invest in education and digital skills, and maintain inclusive governance models. (Brookings)
What This Means For the Philippines, for AI Governance, for the Future
- The report gives policymakers and stakeholders a realistic picture of where the Philippines stands in AI adoption showing both the promise and the pitfalls. With concrete recommendations, the report offers a path forward rather than vague ideals.
- By embedding ethics into national AI strategy, the Philippines has a chance to build AI systems that respect local context and avoid many of the risks associated with “imported” AI governance frameworks.
- The significant planned investments in infrastructure, R&D, upskilling, and regulation could transform the AI landscape across public services, industry, and civil society.
- If executed well, the Philippines might set a template for other developing nations grappling with how to adopt AI responsibly demonstrating that ethical AI is not just a concern of wealthy countries, but an essential development challenge globally.
- On the flip side, failure to address the gaps especially around infrastructure, digital literacy, and regulation could deepen inequalities or result in undesired social consequences (job displacement, data misuse, lack of transparency).
Looking Ahead
In the coming months, all eyes will be on how DOST and other national agencies integrate the report’s recommendations into actual policies, budgets and programs. The launch of the Ethical Impact Assessment process will be a key milestone: whether it yields concrete guidelines or simply becomes a box-ticking exercise will matter a lot. At the same time, the success of this initiative will also depend on wider stakeholder participation from academia to civil society to industry to ensure AI development remains transparent, inclusive, and aligned with societal values.
Finally, the Philippines’ experience could provide valuable lessons for other countries with similar structural challenges highlighting how governments can leverage global frameworks (like UNESCO’s) but tailor them to local realities.
For a country at a digital crossroads, the UNESCO report is more than just a document , it could be the foundation of a fair, inclusive, and future-ready AI ecosystem.