President Ferdinand Marcos Jr signed Executive Order No. 119 on July 13, setting new classification and residency rules for government data.

The order requires Top Secret and Secret data to be stored in the Philippines or in places where it exercises sovereignty or jurisdiction, such as embassies and consulates.

The order covers government data in digital or physical form, including information handled by private entities on the government’s behalf in public-private partnerships, public services, public utilities, critical infrastructure, and strategic or sensitive projects, subject to implementing guidelines.

It classifies government data into four Restricted Access Data as Top Secret, Secret, Confidential, or Restricted.

Government agencies have until the second year after the order takes effect to comply for Top Secret and Secret data, and until the third year for the remaining categories.

Malacañang said the measure updates the government’s decades-old system and departs from a framework that does not impose broad data localisation beyond sector-specific cases.

Lawyer Russell Stanley Geronimo said EO 119 does not address the US Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act, or CLOUD Act, under which providers under US jurisdiction can be compelled to disclose data regardless of where it is stored.

Previously, data center operators in the Philippines told Tech in Asia that a data localization policy would help spur investment in the sector.

As of the end of 2025, Manila’s data centers host 73MW of capacity with 89MW in the pipeline, data from Wakeman and Cushfield shows.

🔗 Source: Newsbytes