afficials and members of the KnowledgeNet Philippines and International Association

of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), Atty. Ivy Grace Villasoto, officials and staff of our
Commission, friends, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon!

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, and Big Data, among others,
bring far-reaching change in our daily lives. As the author of The Fourth Industrial
Revolution, Mr. Klaus Schwab said, “The changes are so profound that, from the
perspective of human history, there has never been a time of greater promise or
potential peril.” The keywords there are promise and peril.

As we know, data is the oil that makes these technologies run. Thus, the
Commission's mandate to protect the data privacy of our citizen's while ensuring the
free flow of information in our society has never been more vital than today. For the
Commission to at least keep up with this fast-phased technological revolution, it must
be armed with sufficient regulatory and enforcement powers. Hence, the endeavor of
amending the Data Privacy Act.

We are at the crossroads of digitization and accelerated data exchange; indeed, it is

high-time for the Commission to introduce amendments to the Data Privacy Act
(DPA). These amendments aim to enhance the implementation of the DPA and for it
to be consistent with the international standards of excellence in data privacy
regulation and enforcement.

The endeavor to revisit data privacy regulation is not only limited to our country,
various APEC economies and ASEAN countries have already acknowledged the need
to update their Data Privacy laws and regulations. One example is Japan’s
amendment last 2015 on their data privacy laws which include changes on their cross-
border privacy rules. Another example is Malaysia, which has recently amended their
data protection laws – strengthening their data breach repercussions, and further
aligning it with the new regulations on data protection introduced in the European
Union - General Data Protection Regulation (EU-GDPR).

I trust that our proposed amendments, which will be expounded by Atty. Ivy Grace
Villasoto later, will help in building the country’s culture of privacy and ensuring that
our systems shall be resilient to breaches and other malicious attacks from lawless
elements.

You at the business sector have an important role to play in promoting this culture of
privacy. This can be shown by your implementation of the 5 Pillars of Compliance
that we have issued, namely: Appoint a Data Protection Officer, Conduct a Privacy
Impact Assessment, Create a Privacy Manual, Implement Privacy and Data Protection
Measures, and Exercise Breach Reporting Procedure. Your sectoral representative,
will be there to assist you along the way. Most importantly, you can show your
commitment in promoting this culture by attending and engaging in this kind of
meaningful discussion. We acknowledge that we don’t have the monopoly of privacy
knowledge and savvy, hence, your presence this afternoon very much appreciated.

At this point, I would like to thank the KnowledgeNet Philippines and the
International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) for collaborating with the
Commission and allowing us to have an avenue in discussing these proposed
amendments.

It is with sincere hope and gratitude that we at the Commission recognize the
assistance extended to us, as well as your continued support to transform our country
to a privacy-resilient nation. Rest assured that we in the Commission, under the able
leadership of Commissioner, will have an open line for collaboration and will remain
a steadfast partner.

Once again, good afternoon and mabuhay!