Philippine lawmaker calls for ‘Digital Bayanihan’

FPJ Panday Bayanihan Partylist Representative and House Assistant Majority Leader Brian Poe Llamanzares called on Filipinos to embrace “Digital Bayanihan,” a national effort to shape the country’s digital transformation through shared responsibility, ethics, and inclusion.

Speaking at the Global Emerging Tech Summit in Bataan, Llamanzares said he traditional Filipino value of bayanihan, the act of neighbors helping each other lift a house, must evolve to match the demands of the digital age.

“The word bayanihan is a quintessential Filipino ethos,” he said. “It’s a collective and courageous action driven by solidarity, placing the needs of the community above oneself.”

He said Digital Bayanihan should inspire collaboration across sectors. “It’s about recognizing that our prosperity in this new era will depend on our ability to lift each other, not by carrying our hopes on our backs, but carrying ideas and opportunities.”

“This transformation requires the collective genius and shared victory of every Filipino, rooted in trust, guided by ethics, and secured by law,” he said.

Llamanzares also commended Bataan Governor Jose Enrique Garcia III for his leadership in promoting digital growth, fiscal discipline, and innovation in the province.

“I have the pleasure of working together with his brother in Congress, and we worked together on the budget,” he said. “I can see how hard they work to secure the budget that’s needed to develop the province, the nation’s push for it to become more developed and more digitally so.”

The opportunities and paradoxes of AI

Llamanzares said the world is living in an age of exceptional change where technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and quantum computing are not just emerging, they are redefining the operating system of our community.

“AI has moved from academic theory to a pervasive force, automating complex decisions and profoundly influencing the very mechanics of our democracy and governance,” he said, adding that AI can help the government become more efficient.

“AI can unlock productivity. It can create gains for us, and it can provide the tools for precision public service, allowing us to better predict weather patterns, deliver targeted health interventions, and ensure educational resources reach the most remote communities.”

However, he warned that the same technology could be abused. “For every new tool that empowers, another can be used to exploit through sophisticated deep fake scams,” he said. “Every algorithm that enlightens another can entrench existing social and racial biases.”

“The fundamental question,” he said, “is no longer if the Philippines adopts these technologies, but how we will govern them, and whom they will serve.”

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Legislating an ethical digital ecosystem

The FPJ Panday Bayanihan Partylist Representative said Congress is prioritizing a legislative framework to ensure responsible innovation.

“We’ve made it an unshakeable priority to lay down the legislative foundations for a responsible, human-centered digital economy,” he said.

The bill introduces a risk-based classification system that prohibits AI uses violating human rights and mandates rigorous auditing and strict data governance requirements for high-risk systems. It also establishes a regulatory sandbox to allow startups to safely test new technologies, “ensuring that regulation fosters innovation instead of defeating it.”

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Protecting livelihoods in the age of automation

Even with ethical AI, Llamanzares said many jobs will be affected by automation. He discussed House Bill No. 2766, the Career Transition Assistance Act, as a social safety net for workers displaced by technology.

“This measure delivers concrete, actionable support by mandating free and accessible reskilling and upskilling programs through TESDA [Technical Education and Skills Development Authority] and DOLE [Department of Labor and Employment],” he said. These programs will focus on growth sectors like cybersecurity and data analytics while offering wage subsidies and career counseling.

He added that the bill includes a job reintegration mandate, requiring private companies to reserve a percentage of new job openings for re-skilled workers. “We are guaranteeing a collective effort towards job reintegration,” he said.

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Llamanzares backs transparency through blockchain

As part of his digital reform agenda, Llamanzares also filed House Bill No. 4489, or the Philippine National Budget Blockchain Act, on September 9. The measure seeks to create a blockchain-based system for tracking the national budget to enhance transparency, accountability, and public participation in government spending.

Formally titled “An Act Mandating the Establishment and Implementation of a National Budget Blockchain System to Enhance Transparency, Accountability, and Public Participation in the Philippine Budget Process,” the proposal requires the creation of a National Budget Blockchain System under the supervision of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and Commission on Audit (COA).

Under the bill, all budget allocations and expenditures would be recorded as digital public assets on the blockchain. A public portal would make these records accessible to citizens, watchdog groups, and oversight bodies, ensuring that anyone can trace the flow of public funds from approval to disbursement.

Llamanzares, who also serves as a trustee of the Blockchain Council of the Philippines (BCP), said the system would make financial data immutable and verifiable.

“Every single allocation, every single disbursement, and every single expense for public works will be recorded as an immutable, verifiable transaction on a public tamper-proof blockchain,” he said during his speech.

“This system,” he added, “is not just a technology upgrade. It is a powerful anti-corruption tool and a profound act of digital accountability.”

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Innovation with soul

Llamanzares said the success of digital transformation must be measured by human progress, not by data volume. “It is not in terabytes of data or market capitalization of our latest unicorns,” he said. “It is not in how many algorithms we deploy, but in how many Filipinos’ lives we improve, empower, and uplift.”

“The digital age demands speed and scale,” he said, “but the Filipino spirit demands soul. Our challenge and our greatest opportunity is to bring both together, to infuse every line of code, every policy decision, and every investment with the enduring spirit of bayanihan.”

“Let us build a Philippines where technology truly empowers, where data serves democracy, where transparency strengthens trust, and where Digital Bayanihan becomes our most defining and enduring national success.

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