The Philippines has signed and ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

The Philippines has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

The Philippines has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

Corruption and irregularities in customs processing in the Philippines are reported to persist, including incidents of undue and costly delays, irregularities in the valuation process, inspection and 100% verification of some goods, and inconsistent assessment of fees.

Personal data in the Philippines is regulated under the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) and the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (RA 10175).

RA 10175 mandates that “traffic data and subscriber information relating to communication services shall be kept, retained, and preserved by a service provider for a minimum period of six months from the date of the transaction.” This minimum data retention requirement, while under judicial or investigative procedure, is costly for the service provider.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) regulations require telecommunications entities to retain call traffic data on the origin, destination, date, time and duration of communications and to retain data within the following periods: two months for non-metered services with fixed monthly charges; four months for other telecommunications services; or until excused by the NTC for records requested in connection with pending complaints.

RA 10173 requires that “any natural or juridical person or other body involved in the processing of personal data [to] designate an individual or individuals who shall function as data protection officers.” This requirement can impose additional trade costs on firms since data privacy compliance is a horizontally-applied measure.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability for copyright infringement is absent in Philippine law and jurisprudence. Arguably, safe harbour clauses are present in the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 (RA 8792) and the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (RA 10175). However, the definition of an intermediary in these laws limits its capacity to provide a safe harbour. Particularly, RA 8792’s scope is limited to electronic documents, while RA 10175 is limited to cybercrimes defined under the law. This makes safe harbours in Philippine law sectoral or content-specific.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability beyond copyright infringement is absent in Philippine law and jurisprudence. Arguably, safe harbour clauses are present in the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 (RA 8792) and the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (RA 10175). However, the definition of an intermediary in these laws limits its capacity to provide a safe harbour. Particularly, RA 8792’s scope is limited to electronic documents, while RA 10175 is limited to cybercrimes defined under the law. This makes safe harbours in Philippine law sectoral or content-specific.

According to Art. 5 of the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration Act, the Philippines imposes an identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card or a passport in case of foreigners to activate a new prepaid SIM card.

In June 2022, the national security advisor of the Philippines requested the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to block 27 websites, alleging their affiliation with "Communist-Terrorist" groups and citing the Anti-Terror Act as justification. The targeted websites included Philippine news sites Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly, as well as several affiliated with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Some users experienced difficulty accessing Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly following the blocking order. Toward the end of August 2022, Bulatlat reportedly became accessible again after a regional trial court found the NTC in indirect contempt of an earlier court injunction favouring the outlet. Despite the decision to restore access to Bulatlat, the NTC's blocking order remained in force. In October 2022, the same regional trial court reaffirmed its writ of preliminary injunction against the NTC despite appeals from the commission, ensuring continued access to Bulatlat and, in effect, to the other listed websites as well. As of June 2023, reports indicate that some of the 27 websites remained blocked on certain networks.

The indicator "6.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 3 in Philippines for the year 2023. This corresponds to "Rarely but there have been a few occasions throughout the year when the government shut down domestic access to Internet."

The Foreign Investment Act requires the publication of the Foreign Investment Negative List (FINL) every two years, which outlines sectors in which foreign investment is restricted. According to List A of the 2022 FINL, advertising is limited to 30% foreign equity.

In 2017, the Philippine government enacted the Philippine National Strategic Goods List Annex 2, regulating the strategic dual-use items for both export and import for national security reasons. Some of these dual-use items are electronics and computers that reach a specific technical level that qualifies them as fit for military use.