President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the modernization of the government’s decades-old data classification framework to strengthen data sovereignty, cybersecurity, and secure digital transformation through Executive Order No. 119.
The order requires government agencies, state universities, and government-owned corporations to adopt a unified, risk-based system for classifying and managing government data.
Under the updated framework, data will be categorized as either Restricted Access or Open Access, with restricted information further classified as top secret, secret, confidential, or restricted.
Covered agencies must submit annual compliance reports to a Joint Oversight Committee for Data Classification, which will report to the President.
The government aims to achieve full implementation of the new framework within three years.
Source: PhilNews24 | July 20, 2026
