In commemoration of the 20th year of Republic Act No. 8792, otherwise known as the Electronic Commerce Act, and in light of the accelerated adoption of e-commerce amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Trade and Industry ("DTI") committed to implement policies to strengthen the e-commerce industry. Seeing the need to tackle structural and legal impediments to e-commerce and digital marketplace growth, DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said that the DTI is supporting various bills related to e-commerce, particularly the Internet Transactions Bill ("Bill").
The Bill seeks to establish an eCommerce Bureau which will focus on the following: (a) promoting the development of e-commerce by building trust between sellers and consumers; (b) stronger online consumer protection; (c) safer e-payment gateways; (d) easier online business registration; and (e) formulation of other policies and programs to increase the number of online merchants and consumers.
Aside from the Bill, various related bills that aim to promote the digital economy are being tackled in Congress. These include the e-Government Act, the National Digital Careers Act, and the National Digital Transformation Policy.
On 14 June 2020, the Insurance Commission ("IC") issued Circular No. 2020-73 regarding the Guidelines on the Adoption of a Regulatory Sandbox Framework for Insurance Technology ("InsurTech") Innovations ("Guidelines"), which became effective on the same day. The Guidelines recognise the immense benefit that can be derived from further developing InsurTech through experimentation, testing and learning. They permit the adoption, implementation, and participation of persons in regulatory sandboxes to allow small scale and live testing of InsurTech only upon the approval of IC, which protects the interests of the insuring public. Requirements under the Guidelines include the submission of a formal proposal which sets forth, among others, a written projected plan and clear strategy for exit from the regulatory sandbox. The Guidelines also provide for application screening parameters and mandatory reporting requirements.
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines ("IPOPHL") has renewed its partnership with the European Union Intellectual Property Office ("EUIPO") by signing the Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Cooperation, which renewed the Memorandum of Understanding first signed by IPOPHL and EUIPO in 2014. The Memorandum of Understanding identifies intellectual property ("IP") administration and services, awareness, economics, education, and research as areas of cooperation, and will last until 2024. The previous Memorandum of Understanding had provided IPOPHL with capacity-building training on IP services, awareness and enforcement, and equipped IPOPHL with the technological tools and knowhow to successfully join Designview (the largest online consultation tool for industrial designs) and TM Class (an international classification tool that provides member countries access to the largest classification databases in the world).
On 2 June 2020, the Department of Information and Communications Technology ("DICT") amended its Cloud First Policy to provide clearer instructions on policy coverage, data classification, and data security, as well as its policy on sovereignty, residency and ownership.
As cloud computing is expected to foster flexibility, security and cost-efficiency among users, in 2017, the DICT issued Department Circular No. 002-17 prescribing the Cloud First Policy which was intended to promote cloud computing as the preferred technology for government administration and the delivery of government services.
The recent amendments clarify which institutions shall be covered by the Cloud First Policy and which institutions shall only be encouraged to adopt it. As amended, the Cloud First Policy covers all departments, bureaus, offices, and agencies of the Executive Branch, Government Owned and/or Controlled Corporations ("GOCCs"), State Universities and Colleges ("SUCs"), Local Government Units ("LGUs"), and all cloud service providers and private entities rendering services to the government. Meanwhile, the Congress, the Judiciary, the Independent Constitutional Commissions, and the Office of the Ombudsman are encouraged to adopt the Cloud First Policy.
Data classifications have also been updated to include: highly sensitive government data, above-sensitive government data, sensitive government data, and non-sensitive government data. The new classifications provide a more consistent structure to guide the application of safety protocols on the access, storage, processing, and transmission of data in the cloud.
On 29 April 2020, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ("BSP") issued Circular No. 1085, Series of 2020 ("Circular No. 1085") on the Sustainable Finance Framework ("Framework") approved by the Monetary Board of the BSP. Circular No. 1085 took effect on 16 May 2020. The Framework sets out the expectations of BSP on the integration of sustainability principles, including those covering environmental and social risk areas, in the corporate governance and risk management frameworks, as well as in the strategic objectives and operations of banks. The Framework is now incorporated as Section 153 of the Manual of Regulations for Banks. Banks have three years to fully comply with the provisions of the Framework, and should submit transition plans approved by their boards of directors within six months from the effectivity of Circular No. 1085.
