The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said the initiative would make the Philippines the first country in Southeast Asia to test Direct-to-Cell services, a technology that links ordinary mobile phones directly to low-Earth-orbit satellites.
Grok has been under international scrutiny since early January after the system itself acknowledged that it was being exploited to generate malicious content involving real individuals, including celebrities and politicians.
The Philippines has rolled out what officials describe as a global first in public finance management, becoming the first country to record its entire national budget on blockchain technology, beginning with the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
As of Jan. 12, 2026, the DICT said only seven identified colorum operators remain. The agency is engaging these firms to complete registration and avail themselves of the remaining amnesty period.
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) said it is reviewing the “Buo ang Saya ng Pasko” Christmas campaign of Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) on the messaging platform Viber following media reports and user complaints over the appearance of branded content in private chats.
Once implemented, the House would be the first legislative body in Asia to adopt blockchain for its core processes, according to House speaker Faustino “Bojie” G. Dy III.
Diosdado “Dado” Banatao, a Filipino entrepreneur and engineer whose innovations helped shape the modern personal computer and whose success in Silicon Valley inspired generations of Filipinos, has died. He was 79.
The Supreme Court (SC) has held that bank deposits remain confidential, but the Cybercrime Prevention Act allows disclosure of certain information for cybercrime investigations.
Data from the DICT showed that the most common cybercrimes recorded in the country were online libel, illegal access, and computer-related identity theft.
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has formally turned over the locally developed Controller Operated Battle Ready Armament (Cobra) system to the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Philippine Army.
