Sen. Bam Aquino was elected chairperson of the committees on basic education; trade, commerce, and entrepreneurship; and science and technology during the first special session of the 20th Congress on June 17, 2026. Voltaire Domingo, Senate Social Media Unit
MANILA — Senator Bam Aquino urged the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to develop Filipino-made artificial intelligence (AI) models, warning of the potential cultural and social implications of relying on foreign-developed systems.
"As you keep on using the AI, you're training the AI, but the AI is also training you. And a lot of the time, the output that it gives you is from the perspective of the creators of the AI," Aquino said during the Senate budget hearing for DOST on Wednesday.
"So, if we're not careful, and our countrymen, our youth are all using AI coming from other countries, eventually, there will be a type of assimilation of culture, language, and mores, and norms, no?," he added.
Aquino also highlighted how AI models could influence how users perceive geopolitical issues.
"So, for example, if we're using Chinese AI and you talk about South China Sea, West Philippine Sea, iba yung perspective na ilalabas niya, di ba?" he said.
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DOST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. acknowledged that competing with established dominant western AI models would be difficult, but said the agency is working to develop its own language models tailored to the country's needs.
"Of course, we will not compete with them, but we will be developing our language. to address the specific challenges and problems we have. Now, while we use or develop large language models, the critical program or input or fuel to the AI would be our sovereign data," Solidum said.
Solidum added that DOST is also developing the Analytics and Technology Solutions Platform, which will digitize data for use in AI platforms.
"(It will) peg every data to a specific geographic location so that we can interoperate everything and use AI to do analytics," he said.
DOST's proposed 2027 budget, which was referred to the plenary for approval, amounts to P30.87 billion. Among the agency's programs is the expansion of the National AI Strategy Framework.