Philippines' Subsea Cable Laws Face Scrutiny Amid Digital Hub Ambitions

The Philippines' telecommunications industry wants the country to become a regional digital hub anchored by underwater cables. Analysts warn that slow repair approvals, limited monitoring and fragmented official oversight could undermine that ambition. PLDT, the country's largest telecommunications company, called for greater cooperation among government agencies and further reforms at a forum on archipelagic governance for subsea cables.

PLDT Global president and CEO Albert Villa-Real said the Philippines' Asia-Pacific location offered an opportunity to become a key submarine cable connection point. Villa-Real said the country needed to invest in high-value assets and simplify cable deployment and repair approvals, according to the Philippine Star's account of the September 29 forum. Villa-Real said the Philippines should aim to become a major Asia-Pacific digital connection point rather than simply an endpoint for international cables. PLDT connects to the Apricot Cable System across Asia-Pacific and the Jupiter Cable System linking to Japan and the United States.

Villa-Real said underwater fibre lines were necessary to provide the connectivity businesses needed to invest in various systems across the Philippines' more than 7,600 islands. However, Villa-Real said multiple permits were required before specialised cable repair vessels could enter local waters, impeding repairs. An outage in submarine cable segments connecting the Philippines to Singapore and Hong Kong disrupted connectivity and services nationwide days after Villa-Real's comments. The Philippine coastguard intercepted a research vessel near cable corridors connecting the country to Northeast Asia on October 1.

Mark Manantan, chief investigator of the Southeast Asia-Australia Resilient Cable Connectivity Initiative (SEA-ARC), said most documented cable damage had been accidental, caused by anchors and typhoons. Manantan said he had found no public case of confirmed deliberate cable damage in Philippine waters. Manantan, also a research fellow at La Trobe University's Centre for Global Security, cited reported underwater surveillance drones attributed to a state actor found in Philippine waters. Manantan described the drones as mapping the country's seabed. Manantan said security agencies treated the threat as growing, partly because of the wider maritime context.

Analysts said Philippine officials had made progress on subsea cable governance frameworks, but implementation and regulatory scope still fell short. Manantan urged Manila to streamline cable repair rules further and enhance seabed surveillance. Manantan said responsibility was spread across more than a dozen government agencies, delaying repairs and official approvals. Manantan said no single agency collected consolidated incident and route data. Manantan said the country had not designated cable protection zones. Manantan said responses to recent incidents were improvised and restoration took months rather than days.

However, analysts said the Philippines was strengthening related legislation and making foreign participation in the cable industry easier. Francis Domingo, an associate professor of international relations at the University of the Philippines Diliman, said the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) had published the National Digital Connectivity Plan. Domingo said DICT was responsible for subsea cable protection and governance. Domingo said the plan provided for developing a regulatory framework to safeguard submarine cables as critical digital infrastructure. Domingo said the plan showed that some officials clearly understood the significance of subsea cables.

Then DICT secretary Henry Aguda said in February that the plan aimed to improve resilient connectivity for Filipinos, especially in underserved areas, supported by public-private partnerships. Manantan cited foreign cable repair ships entering Philippine territorial waters this year as a sign of progress. Manantan also welcomed the introduction of the Connected Filipino Act to liberalise the cable market. Manantan described a recent announcement of DICT-Australia cooperation on a cable protection framework as another positive step.

Domingo said the Philippines' largest telecommunications and internet providers were discussing a consortium to strengthen national connectivity. Domingo linked the discussions to the country's lack of systems to monitor, detect and protect subsea cables from threats and damage. However, Philippine Institute of Cybersecurity Professionals chairman Angel Redoble called for the government to lead because of national security concerns. Redoble said the government must participate in every submarine cable-related process to prioritise and protect national security interests.

Manantan said investors would look to Manila to manage digital infrastructure and implement robust rules for a subsea cable or data centre hub during peacetime and crisis. Citing typhoons and increasing geopolitical tensions, Manantan said officials increasingly viewed cable cuts as risks to national security and continuity of government, not just telecommunications outages.