1 
Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. ____ 
Introduced by REP. BERNADETTE “DETTE” G. ESCUDERO 
AN ACT  
PROTECTING THE PERSONALITY RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS AGAINST 
UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THEIR FACE, VOICE, AND OTHER IDENTIFIABLE 
FEATURES THROUGH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DEEPFAKE 
TECHNOLOGY, PROHIBITING THE CREATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF 
MANIPULATED MEDIA WITHOUT CONSENT, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES 
THEREFOR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Section 3(1), Article III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution guarantees every 
individual’s right to privacy of communication and correspondence. Complementing 
this, Section 2 of the same affirms the right of the people to be secure in their persons. 
In the same vein, Section 17, Article II underscores the State’s policy to promote 
science and technology and to encourage innovation for national development. 
However, these rights and principles are increasingly threatened by the rapid 
advancement and largely unregulated use of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in 
the creation of deepfakes, or hyper-realistic synthetic media capable of imitating and 
mimicking a person’s facial features, voice, expressions, and gestures with the use of 
machine generated techniques. These technologies have become widely accessible 
and easy to use, often requiring nothing more than a smartphone or a few clicks 
online. 
While AI holds vast potential to drive innovation and national progress, the 
malicious use of deepfake technology poses significant and evolving risks to individual 
privacy, public trust, and democratic integrity. Deepfakes have been weaponized in 
various ways, through cyberbullying, non-consensual sexual content, identity theft, 
disinformation campaigns, and online scams. 
July 28, 2025
8:00 am
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According to our law enforcement and regulatory agencies, cybercrimes and 
deepfakes are part of a growing global scourge that must be addressed.1 In the first 
half of 2025 alone, the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) 
reported the arrest of over 5,000 individuals linked to online crimes, including the use 
of AI for criminal purposes. The seriousness of the threat is underscored by reports 
that no less than President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., along with several high-
ranking officials from other governments, have been targeted by deepfake content 
that misled the public, spread fake news, and underminned trust in legitimate 
institutions.2 
Despite the existence of laws such as Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10175, otherwise 
known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10173, 
otherwise known as the Data Privacy Act of 2012, the legal gaps remain in regulating 
the creation and unauthorized distribution of AI-generated media that impersonates a 
real person’s face, voice, or bodily likeness. These laws were not crafted with the 
complexities of generative AI and deepfake technology in mind.  
Through this measure, we seek to establish explicit legal framework and 
protective measures over an individual’s distinct personal attributes by recognizing 
unique traits, including one’s face, voice, gestures, and digital likeness, as part of their 
intellectual and personality rights. It aims to criminalize the unauthorized creation, 
dissemination, and commercial use of deepfakes, particularly when intended to 
deceive, defame, exploit, or harm individuals.  
By enacting this measure, which was also passed in the European Union, the 
State will not only reinforce existing privacy and cybercrime protections, but also 
provide a forward-looking legal framework that upholds personal dignity, deters 
identity fraud, curtails the spread of misinformation, and ensures the ethical use of AI 
technologies. This will empower citizens to assert control over their own digital 
personality, while maintaining a regulatory environment that promotes innovation, 
accountability, and human rights in the digital age. 
Immediate and favorable consideration of this measure is therefore earnestly 
sought. 
HON. BERNADETTE “DETTE” G. ESCUDERO 
Representative 
1st District, Sorsogon
1 Presidential Communications Office (5 August 2024) Cybercrime, deep fakes are worldwide scourge that must be addressed — DICT 
chief. Accessed last 14 July 2025 from: https://pco.gov.ph/news_releases/cybercrime-deep-fakes-are-worldwide-scourge-that-must-be-
addressed-dict-chief/
2 Untalan, S. (25 June 2025) Over 5,000 arrested for cybercrimes in 1st half of 2025, says PNP. Accessed last 14 July 2025 from: 
http://gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/950636/over-5-000-arrested-for-cybercrimes-in-1st-half-of-2025-says-pnp/story/


1 
Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILLNO. ____ 
Introduced by REP. BERNADETTE “DETTE” G. ESCUDERO 
AN ACT  
PROTECTING THE PERSONALITY RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS AGAINST 
UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THEIR FACE, VOICE, AND OTHER IDENTIFIABLE 
FEATURES THROUGH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DEEPFAKE 
TECHNOLOGY, PROHIBITING THE CREATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF 
MANIPULATED MEDIA WITHOUT CONSENT, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES 
THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
Section 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the Anti-Deepfake 
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Personality Rights Protection Act. 
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SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. It shall be the policy of the State to protect the 
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fundamental rights of individuals to privacy, personal dignity, and control over their own 
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identity and likeness in the digital realm. The State recognizes the increasing prevalence 
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and evolvement of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, particularly in generating 
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synthetic media known as deepfakes, which can manipulate or create realistic images, 
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videos, or audio of individuals without their consent. While acknowledging the beneficial 
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applications of AI in the realm of technological advancement and development, the State 
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deems it imperative to enact measures that safeguard individuals from the malicious, 
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deceptive, or unauthorized use of their personal attributes for deepfake creation, thereby 
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preventing fraud, reputational harm, and the spread of misinformation. 
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SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. As used in this Act: 
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(a) Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to a machine-based system that can, for a
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given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or 
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decisions influencing real or virtual environments. 
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(b) Deepfake refers to any synthetic media, including but not limited to images, 
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videos, audio recordings, or any combination thereof, that are primarily generated, 
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manipulated, or altered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, or similar 
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technologies, to falsely depict a person's appearance, voice, or actions as if they were 
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real or authentic. 
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(c) Personal Attributes refer to an individual's unique and distinguishable 
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features, including but not limited to their face, facial expressions, body, body 
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movements, voice, vocal patterns, and mannerisms. 
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(d) Consent refers to any freely given, specific, informed indication of will, whereby 
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the data subject agrees to the processing of personal data about or relating to him or 
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her, and evidenced by written, electronic, or recorded means. Consent may also be 
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given on behalf of the data subject by an agent specifically authorized by the data 
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subject to do so.  
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(e) Malicious Use refers to the use of deepfakes with the intent to deceive, 
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defraud, defame, harass, intimidate, threaten, sexually exploit, cause distress, or 
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otherwise cause harm to an individual or the public which may include, but not limited 
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to fake pornography, online scam and calls and false political propaganda, among 
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others.  
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SEC. 4. Right to Personal Attributes. Every individual shall have the exclusive right 
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to control the commercial use, reproduction, distribution, public display, and other forms 
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of exploitation of their own personal attributes, as defined in this Act, in any deepfake or 
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other AI-generated synthetic media. This right shall be independent of any existing 
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copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights. 
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SEC. 5. Scope of Protection. The protection granted under this Act shall include: 
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(a) The unauthorized creation of deepfakes using an individual's personal 
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attributes,such as their face, voice, or bodily likeness, without their informed and written 
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consent;  
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(b) The unauthorized dissemination, distribution, publication, or public display of 
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deepfakes containing an individual's personal attributes without their explicit consent, 
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regardless of platform or medium;  
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(c) The unauthorized commercial exploitation of deepfakes containing an 
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individual's personal attributes, including for advertising, endorsements, entertainment, or 
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profit, without their explicit consent;  
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(d) The use of deepfakes in the commission of online scams, phishing schemes, 
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impersonation attempts, and fraudulent calls intended to deceive or defraud individuals, 
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public or private entities;  
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(e) The creation and spread of false political propaganda using deepfakes, 
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particularly those that misrepresent public figures or manipulate public discourse with the 
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intent to mislead voters, distort facts, or disrupt democratic processes;  
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(f) Other malicious uses of deepfake technology that may cause harm, confusion, 
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reputational damage, or violation of personality rights. 
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SEC. 6. Exceptions. The provisions of this Act shall not apply to:  
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(a) The use of deepfakes for purposes of parody, satire, critique, commentary, or news 
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reporting, provided that such use is clearly and conspicuously labeled as synthetic and 
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does not constitute malicious use as defined in this Act; 
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(b) The use of deepfakes in the context of legitimate artistic or creative works, provided 
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that such use is clearly and conspicuously labeled as synthetic and does not constitute 
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malicious use; 
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(c) The use of deepfakes for research and development of AI technologies, provided 
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that personal data is anonymized or de-identified to the greatest extent possible and such 
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use does not constitute malicious use; 
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(d) The use of deepfakes where the individual's personal attributes are incidental and 
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not the primary subject of the synthetic media, and such use does not constitute malicious 
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use. 
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SEC. 7. Labeling and Disclosure. All deepfakes, regardless of their purpose, shall 
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be required to bear a clear and conspicuous disclaimer or label indicating that the content 
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is artificially generated or manipulated. The National Privacy Commission (NPC), in 
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coordination with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), 
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shall issue guidelines for the appropriate labeling and disclosure of deepfakes. 
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SEC. 8. Liability of Platform Providers. Social media platforms, content-hosting 
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services, and other online intermediaries shall exercise due diligence in detecting, 
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removing, or disabling access to deepfakes that violate this Act, upon proper notification 
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and verification of the infringement. Failure to comply with this provision may subject such 
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platforms to penalties as determined by the NPC, without prejudice to other civil or criminal 
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liabilities. 
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SEC. 9. Penalties. The following penalties shall be imposed on the following 
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offenses: 
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a) The unauthorized Creation or Dissemination of Malicious Deepfakes shall be 
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penalized by imprisonment ranging from one (1) year to three (3) years and a fine of not 
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less than Five hundred thousand pesos (Php500,000.00) but not more than Two million 
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pesos (Php2,000,000.00) shall be imposed on persons who process personal information 
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without the consent of the data subject, or without being authorized under this Act or any 
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existing law. If the deepfake is used for sexual exploitation, shall suffer the penalty of life 
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imprisonment and a fine of not less than Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00).  
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(b) Unauthorized Commercial Exploitation of Deepfakes shall be penalized by 
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imprisonment ranging from one (1) year and six (6) months to five (5) years and a fine of 
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not less than Five hundred thousand pesos (Php500,000.00) but not more than One million 
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pesos (Php1,000,000.00) shall be imposed on persons processing personal information for 
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purposes not authorized by the data subject, or otherwise authorized under this Act or 
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under existing laws.  
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(c) Failure to Label Deepfakes as Synthetic shall be penalized by imprisonment 
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ranging from one (1) year to three (3) years and a fine of not less than Five hundred 
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thousand pesos (Php500,000.00) but not more than Two million pesos (Php2,000,000.00) 
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shall be imposed on persons who process personal information without the consent of the 
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data subject, or without being authorized under this Act or any existing law.  
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 (d) Corporate Liability. If the violator is a corporation, partnership, association, or 
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any juridical entity, the penalty shall be imposed upon the president, managing partner, 
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chief executive officer, or any other officer responsible for the violation. 
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Sec. 10. Separability Clause. If any provision of this Act or the application of 
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such provision to any person or circumstance is declared invalid, the remainder of the Act 
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or the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected 
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thereby. 
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Sec. 11. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees, administrative issuances, rules and 
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regulations, and orders or parts thereof inconsistent with this Act are deemed repealed or 
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modified accordingly.  
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Sec. 12. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following the 
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completion of its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) national newspapers of 
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general circulation, whichever comes first. 
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Adopted, 
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