The Philippines tech news headlines in Q1 2025
March 2025 ● February 2025 ● January 2025
- The Philippines’ population (2023): 117.3 million
- The Philippines’ online population: 73M / 64.1%
- The Philippines’ median age: 25.7 years
Cyber Revolution Summit 2025 – The Philippines in June
tech: March 2025
- Asian Development Bank inks financing package of up to $100M to support Ayala Corporation in moves to develop an electric mobility ecosystem in the Philippines / full item
- Philippine banks prep to launch PHPX stablecoin for real-time remittances, developed by Singapore’s Just Finance, with sights on the $40BN OFW cross-border remittances market / full item
- Online now: ‘Private Equity and Venture Capital Landscape in the Philippines – 2024 in Review and 2025 Outlook’ from PwC / full item
- “…the Philippines has been deemed the second most attractive emerging market for clean power investments, even beating economic powerhouse China.” / full item
- Nestlé Philippines partners Mober to integrate electric vehicles into its mid- and last-mile delivery operations / full item
- The Philippines and Canada are to establish a cybersecurity roadmap as part of wider collaborations / full item
- The Philippine Space Agency, PhilSA, has opened applications to its Advanced Degrees for Accelerating Strategic Space R&D and Applications – AD ASTRA – Scholarships Program / full item
- Int’l Rice Research Institute and XAG agri-tech ink MOU on precision farming using drone tech, looking at smart agriculture technologies in rice-based cropping / full item
- The Philippine Space Agency in late October 2024 formally became a full member of the International Astronautical Federation / full item
- “…80% of the 400 Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) hubs have already ceased their operations… those defying the total ban order have resorted to a ‘guerilla’ style of operations” / full item
- Recent study suggests the digital lending market in the Philippines could exceed $1 billion in value in H2 2025 / full item
- Central bank lifts moratorium on establishment of new digital banks and conversions of bank licenses to digital ones, tho limiting digi-bank licenses to 10 in total / full item
- Kickstart Ventures VC to fund up to five startups this year, focusing on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, adding to its 70-firm portfolio / full item
Indo-Pacific 5×5: Daily geopolitics newsletters & downloads
tech: February 2025
- “The Private Equity and Venture Capital Landscape in the Philippines, 2024 in Review and 2025 Outlook, from PwC / full item
- Manny Pacquiao and Manila Ecommerce Centre partner to launch Star Digital Solutions agency, aiming to boost entrepreneurship over the Centre’s 16 stories / full item
- Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas introduces Financial Cyber Resilience Governance Council in bid to boost collaboration in the financial sector around cyber defences / full item
- Valar Atomics raises $19M, with a pilot small modular reactor site development contract with the Philippines Nuclear Research Institute / full item
- Mastercard launches TRACE anti-money laundering service to combat financial crime in the Asia Pacific, with first implementation in the Philippines’ Real-Time Payment network / full item
- Philippines’ sovereign wealth fund, Maharlika Investment Corp’n, and Thai conglomerate, Charoen Pokphand Group, to launch $1BN PE fund for agri-food, digital, and green energy / full item
- A brief intro to Pomelo, combining US consumer credit with international money transfers to The Philippines, in partnership with Mastercard and Coastal Community Bank / full item
- Bacolod City launches ALPhA – Accelerate Leadership for Philippine Startup Advancement – Hub and incubator, funded by the Dep’t of Science & Tech / full item
- World’s largest solar power plus battery storage project breaks ground in The Philippines, targeting solar capacity of 3500MW and battery storage capacity of 4500MWh / full item
- “United Nations Joint Programme on Inclusive, Competitive, and Responsible Digital Philippines (Digital PINAS) will build a digital ecosystem for MSMEs in remote regions…” / full item
- World Mobile blockchain-backed mobile network partners DITO CME, parent of Dito Telecom / full item
- An intro to eTap, helping Filipino motorcycle couriers and delivery agents with digital payments with a nationwide kiosk network / full item
- The PHPX stablecoin: “… is to enable overseas Filipino workers to send remittances faster and with lower fees…. Pinoys working abroad send…$40BN annually to the country…” / full item
- Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot app is soon to be available for Android users, with pre-registration for testing available in Australia, Canada, India, The Philippines, and Saudi Arabia / full item
AI Revolution Summit – October 2025
tech: January 2025
- World ID Orb verifications are now available in select cities in Bulacan province, tho implementations so far have been conducted as pilots in private settings / full item
- Packworks finds sari-sari stores made significant sales of premium items, a significant development in the ‘corner stores’ market / full item
- Grow Asia launches Innovation Challenge 2025 to drive agri-tech solutions for smallholder producers of coconut, cacao, and coffee in SEA, with a particular focus on The Philippines / full item
- Digital Nomad Visa is proposed, aiming to allow foreign nationals to work remotely in the Philippines for one year, with a renewal option / full item
- “Data from Packworks’ SariPH Pro app revealed that over 175K sari-sari stores actively transacted in 2024, marking a 32% jump from 133K stores the previous year…” / full item
