GOVERNMENT officials, industry leaders and technology advocates framed “truth” as a critical asset in the digital economy, calling for stronger governance, identity systems and public trust as artificial intelligence (AI) adoption accelerates.
The Manila Times Digital Innovation Forum, titled “Encoding the currency of truth in the digital economy,” was held on April 14, 2026 at the Hilton Manila, Newport World Resorts in Pasay City.
“Truth is the new digital currency,” Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said, stressing that reliable data underpins effective digital services. He cited a directive to digitize government processes to improve efficiency and curb corruption.
Solidum outlined initiatives such as the Smart Agriculture and Research Information System (Sarai), which uses sensors and data analytics to guide farmers, and the “Smart and Sustainable Communities” program, which has partnered with 124 local government units for early warning systems, environmental monitoring and connectivity.
From a policy standpoint, Karl Lyndon Pacolor, assistant director for the Bureau of Policy Research and Innovation at the Department of Trade and Industry, said the country must build a trustworthy AI ecosystem to sustain economic growth. He pointed to laws such as the Philippine Innovation Act and the Data Privacy Act as key enablers.
Pacolor said AI and generative AI are already reshaping sectors including telecommunications, health care and business process outsourcing, with the potential to significantly boost the economy by 2030. He emphasized responsible deployment, human-centered design and a “whole-of-society” approach.
Trust, however, remains uneven. Sherwin Pelayo, executive director of the Analytics & Artificial Intelligence Association of the Philippines, said that while 95 percent of organizations are using AI, only 12 percent have governance frameworks in place.
He described trust as “the scarcest and most valuable resource” in the AI era and stressed a “human plus AI” model, where machines handle scale while humans provide context and ethical judgment. He also introduced an industry code of ethics anchored on transparency, fairness and privacy.
On the business side, JR Cruz, president of Nova Leadership Institute and marketing manager of Novaluxia Innovation Corp., said digital platforms are shifting away from pure advertising toward engagement-driven ecosystems. He described a value loop where user interaction generates data, AI refines the experience and trust reinforces participation.
“The most successful platforms will share value with users,” Cruz said, noting a shift from treating users as consumers to viewing them as active participants.
Financial services leaders underscored similar concerns. Lito Villanueva, executive vice president and chief innovation and inclusion officer at RCBC, said “digital trust” must be built into products from the start, particularly to address gaps in financial inclusion.
He cited initiatives such as ATM Go, which extends banking services to remote areas through local merchants, and digital loan programs designed for broader access. He also highlighted the need for collaboration, including shared fraud intelligence networks, to protect users.
In the afternoon session, speakers expanded the discussion to governance, infrastructure and democratic systems.
Catherine Jalandoni, country director of the Global Finance & Technology Network, said trust must be actively managed through oversight and accountability. She introduced the idea of “mothering AI,” or continuously auditing and fact-checking systems to ensure alignment with human values. She also called for inclusive participation, particularly from women and micro, small and medium enterprises, to avoid concentration of power in technology development.
Addressing connectivity gaps, Pierre Tito Galla, ICT consultant and co-founder of Democracy.Net.ph, said the digital divide continues to limit access to information and opportunity. He pointed to reforms such as the Open Access in Data Transmission Act as key to expanding affordable internet and maintaining an open information environment.
Election integrity also emerged as a central issue. Lito Averia, founder and president of the Philippine Computer Emergency Response Team, warned that automated election systems risk becoming opaque “black boxes” without sufficient transparency. He proposed a hybrid model combining manual precinct-level counting with automated transmission to ensure both public verification and efficiency.
Meanwhile, Winthrop Yu, policy and governance chair emeritus of the Internet Society of the Philippines, said the decentralized nature of internet governance — driven by groups such as the Internet Engineering Task Force and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers — prevents central control but complicates efforts to enforce shared values across networks.
In the financial technology sector, Joel Geronimo, deputy chief information security officer and assistant vice president of GCash, said building trust at scale requires “security by design.” He cited measures such as multi-factor authentication and device protection systems to combat fraud, noting that trust can be quickly eroded by security breaches.
Across sessions, a common theme emerged: as AI systems scale, trust must be engineered into digital infrastructure, not treated as an afterthought.
The forum underscored that in a data-driven economy, truth is no longer abstract. It is operational — measured through governance, secured through technology and sustained through collective accountability.
