Deepfakes and Your Likeness in the Philippines: What the Law Now Says

Direct Answer

As of 10 September 2026 the Philippines has no dedicated deepfake statute. A malicious deepfake is still actionable, but through existing laws rather than a purpose-built one — chiefly the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act for intimate imagery, the Cybercrime Prevention Act for computer-related identity theft and cyber libel, the Safe Spaces Act for gender-based online sexual harassment, the Data Privacy Act where a real person’s data is processed, and the Civil Code for damages. Bills to criminalise malicious deepfakes directly remain pending in Congress.

Can you request removal of an AI-generated image of yourself? Yes. The National Privacy Commission says an identifiable person may demand removal of a misused AI likeness from whoever posted or circulated it and may file an NPC complaint. Preserve the post and report it to the platform first; removal and any legal liability depend on the facts. See the removal steps below and the NPC notice of 11 August 2026.

For connected questions on AI regulation, privacy, workplace use, intellectual property and security, start with the Philippine AI hub.

Key Takeaways

• No deepfake law has been enacted. Anyone telling you there is a Philippine “deepfake law” is describing a bill.
• Your likeness is not protected as property. The Philippines has no general right-of-publicity statute; protection comes from privacy, defamation, harassment and fraud rules instead.
• Which law applies depends on what the deepfake does — sexualise, defame, defraud, harass or impersonate.
• Intimate deepfakes are the strongest case. RA 9995 addresses the recording and distribution of sexual content without consent.
• Evidence is the practical battleground. Preserve the file, not a screenshot of it.
• A pending measure, the Anti-Malicious Deepfake Act of 2025, would create a dedicated offence and a takedown portal. It is not law.

Jump to a Section

• Status of Philippine Deepfake Legislation
• Decision Snapshot
• Which Law Applies to Which Deepfake
• Can you get an AI-generated image of you removed?
• Do You Own Your Likeness?
• Who Does This Apply To?
• Practical Scenarios
• Evidence and Documentation
• What Should You Do?
• Common Mistakes
• FAQs
• Official Sources

Status of Philippine Deepfake Legislation

Status as of 10 September 2026: no dedicated deepfake statute has been enacted in the Philippines. Measures remain pending in Congress. One example is a House measure in the Twentieth Congress, First Regular Session, filed 11 August 2025 by Rep. Salvador A. Pleyto, Sr., titled “An Act Prohibiting the Malicious Creation, Distribution, and Use of Deepfake Technology, Providing Penalties Therefor, and for Other Purposes” and short-titled The Anti-Malicious Deepfake Act of 2025. As filed, it would prohibit six categories of malicious deepfake — non-consensual intimate content, defamatory content, fraudulent impersonation, election disinformation within sixty days of an election, content inciting violence or hatred, and content used for harassment, stalking or blackmail — require disclosure labels on non-malicious synthetic media, and establish a government takedown portal. A filed bill creates no offence and confers no remedy. This page will be updated if any measure is enacted.

Decision Snapshot

Which Law Applies to Which Deepfake

Sexual deepfakes — RA 9995

The Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009 penalises the copying, reproduction, distribution and publication of sexual images or recordings without consent. Where a synthetic image places a real, identifiable person into sexual content and it is distributed, this is the most direct route. Penalties increase where distribution is online, and RA 10175 Section 6 raises the penalty by one degree for offences committed through a computer system.

Defamatory deepfakes — cyber libel

A fabricated video that imputes a discreditable act to a real person can be libellous. The elements of libel under Article 355 are unchanged by the medium; RA 10175 supplies the computer-system element. Note the deadline: cyber libel prescribes in one year from discovery — see cyber libel prescription and our guide to online libel.

Fraudulent deepfakes — RA 10175 and estafa

Voice-cloned calls and video impersonation used to extract payments engage computer-related identity theft and computer-related fraud under RA 10175, and estafa under the Revised Penal Code. See computer-related identity theft and computer-related fraud.

Harassment — RA 11313

The Safe Spaces Act covers gender-based online sexual harassment, including the uploading and sharing of photos and videos without consent and misogynistic or sexist content directed at a person.

Data privacy — RA 10173

Where an identifiable person’s data is processed to produce or train the output, the Data Privacy Act is engaged and NPC Advisory No. 2024-04 on artificial intelligence systems processing personal data applies. See AI and data privacy.

Can you get an AI-generated image of you removed?

Yes, you can request removal, but the outcome depends on the facts and the route used. In its 11 August 2026 notice on AI-generated likenesses, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) says a real person’s face and likeness are personal information. Generating an image or video from that likeness, then posting or sharing it, is personal-data processing. It needs a legitimate purpose and a lawful basis under the Data Privacy Act; consent is one possible basis, not the only one. The NPC also says a fabricated depiction can be false personal data. Under Section 16(e) of Republic Act No. 10173, a person may seek blocking, removal or destruction upon substantial proof of falsity.

What the notice does and does not do: It explains existing privacy law and the NPC’s position; it does not enact a new deepfake offence or promise an automatic takedown. Satire, parody, commentary, art and reporting require a fact-specific assessment of purpose, disclosure and necessity. A public figure is still a data subject, while the NPC says it will treat complaints involving minors’ likenesses with utmost priority.

Removal steps in the Philippines

1. Capture the evidence before it disappears. Save the URL, username, time, post text, screenshots and the file if safe. Record where the image was shared and whether it was labelled as synthetic.
2. Send a focused removal request. Identify the exact post and explain that it uses your identifiable likeness and, if true, falsely depicts you. Ask the poster or entity to remove it and keep a copy of your request and response.
3. Report through the platform. Choose its impersonation, non-consensual imagery, harassment or privacy channel that fits the facts. Keep the report reference. Platform rules and response times vary.
4. Escalate a documented privacy concern. The NPC says an affected person may file a complaint and that it may investigate or issue compliance or cease-and-desist orders where warranted. Check the NPC’s current formal complaint instructions and CyberCode’s NPC complaint guide before filing. The NPC process is separate from a platform report.
5. Use a parallel remedy when the facts require it. Intimate abuse, threats, fraud or defamation can call for different legal routes. See the sexual deepfake and voice-cloning remedies guide for victim-focused options.

Example: A seller uses a generated image that makes a Filipino customer appear to endorse a product. The customer should preserve the advertisement and source URL, request removal from the seller and platform, and assess a privacy complaint. Whether a separate consumer, contract or civil claim applies depends on the actual advertisement and harm.

NPC notice published 11 August 2026; removal steps checked 29 September 2026. The NPC notice is regulatory guidance on existing law, not a new statute.

Do You Own Your Likeness?

Not as property, and this is where most expectations break down. The Philippines has no general right-of-publicity or personality-rights statute of the kind found in some other jurisdictions. What exists instead is a patchwork:

• Privacy — Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution and the Data Privacy Act, where personal data is involved.
• Civil damages — the Civil Code provides for damages for acts that offend a person’s dignity, personality, privacy and peace of mind.
• Defamation — where the depiction imputes something discreditable.
• Contract — talent, endorsement and model releases govern authorised commercial use.

Copyright does not help directly: you do not hold copyright in your own face. A photographer may hold copyright in a photograph used as source material, which is a different claim belonging to a different person. For more, see digital likeness rights and AI voice cloning.

Who Does This Apply To?

• Anyone depicted in a synthetic image, video or voice recording.
• Public figures and creators, who face both reputational and commercial misuse.
• Companies whose executives are cloned for payment fraud — see business email compromise.
• Platforms and publishers deciding what to host or take down.
• Anyone making synthetic media, including for satire or marketing, who needs to know where the line sits today.

Practical Scenarios

A sexual deepfake of a private individual circulates on a group chat

RA 9995 is the primary route, with RA 11313 available where the conduct is gender-based harassment. Preserve the file and the distribution trail, then report. See what sextortion victims should do for the immediate steps, which are the same here.

A cloned voice call asks finance to release a payment

This is fraud, not a novelty. The response is the fraud response: stop the payment, preserve call records and any recording, notify the bank, and report. See what to do after a business cyberattack.

A fake video of a public official making a statement

Cyber libel may apply, and election-period conduct raises separate rules. The one-year prescriptive period from discovery makes speed important.

A brand uses an AI-generated face that resembles a real model

No deepfake offence exists to invoke. The questions become resemblance, damages under the Civil Code, and whatever the underlying contracts and releases say.

Evidence and Documentation

Deepfake cases turn on proving the material is synthetic and on tying it to a distributor. Preserve accordingly:

• The original file, downloaded in its native format — not a screen recording or a screenshot. Metadata usually survives only in the original.
• The URL, account handles and timestamps of every place it appeared.
• Distribution evidence — chat threads, forwards, group names, member lists.
• Any source material of yours it appears to be built from.
• Your own record of discovery, since prescription for cyber libel runs from that date.

Practical guidance sits in how to prove a deepfake is fake, preserving evidence on the original device, and AI-generated evidence.

What Should You Do?

1. Preserve before you report. Takedown destroys evidence if you have not kept a copy.
2. Identify what the deepfake does — sexualise, defame, defraud or harass. That determines the law and the agency.
3. Report to the platform in parallel, using its non-consensual or impersonation channel.
4. File with the right authority. See how to report cybercrime and the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group process.
5. Consider a data privacy complaint where personal data was processed — see filing an NPC complaint.
6. Act quickly if defamation is in play, because of the one-year period.

Common Mistakes

• Believing a deepfake law already exists. It does not, and relying on a bill wastes time.
• Screenshotting instead of downloading. A screenshot strips the metadata that helps prove fabrication.
• Demanding takedown first. Get your copy first.
• Assuming you own your face. Likeness is protected indirectly, not as property.
• Waiting. Cyber libel prescribes one year from discovery.
• Sharing it to warn people. Redistribution can create your own exposure, particularly with intimate content.

FAQs

Is making a deepfake illegal in the Philippines?

There is no offence of making a deepfake as such. Liability depends on what the deepfake depicts and what is done with it.

Is there a Philippine deepfake law in 2026?

No dedicated statute has been enacted as of 10 September 2026. Bills are pending.

What can I do about a sexual deepfake of me?

Preserve the file, report to the platform, and pursue RA 9995 and, where applicable, RA 11313 through the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group or the NBI.

Can I sue for a deepfake that is not sexual or defamatory?

A civil action for damages may be available under the Civil Code even where no criminal offence fits. The strength of such a claim is fact-specific.

Does satire or parody protect the maker?

Context matters to defamation, but it is not a blanket shield, and it offers nothing against a charge based on sexual content or fraud.

Is a deepfake admissible as evidence against the person depicted?

Electronic evidence must be authenticated. A demonstrably fabricated file should not survive authentication — see authenticating electronic evidence.

Does the Data Privacy Act cover deepfakes?

It applies where personal data of an identifiable person is processed, which is often the case in creating or training on a person’s likeness.

Official Sources

• National Privacy Commission — Notice to the Public: Use of Real Persons’ Likenesses in AI-Generated Images, 11 August 2026.
• National Privacy Commission — Filing a Complaint (procedure checked 29 September 2026).
• House of Representatives — bill filed 11 August 2025, Twentieth Congress, “An Act Prohibiting the Malicious Creation, Distribution, and Use of Deepfake Technology…”: docs.congress.hrep.online
• Republic Act No. 9995, Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009
• Republic Act No. 10175, Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, Sections 4 and 6
• Republic Act No. 11313, Safe Spaces Act
• Republic Act No. 10173, Data Privacy Act of 2012
• National Privacy Commission — NPC Advisory No. 2024-04, Guidelines on Artificial Intelligence Systems Processing Personal Data: privacy.gov.ph
• Revised Penal Code (Act No. 3815), Articles 315 and 355; Civil Code of the Philippines, Articles 19, 26 and 33

Review dates: Core legal overview, 10 September 2026; NPC likeness-removal update, 29 September 2026.

Disclaimer

This guide provides general Philippine legal and privacy information. Whether a specific AI image violates the Data Privacy Act, qualifies for removal, or supports another claim depends on its content, purpose, distribution and evidence. Seek advice for urgent or disputed cases.

Related articles

• Sexual deepfake and voice-cloning victim remedies
• How to file an NPC privacy complaint
• Posting someone’s photo without permission
• When deepfakes are illegal in the Philippines