Businesses should treat digital trust as a strategic asset tied to customer confidence and economic participation, consumer group CitizenWatch Philippines said, urging companies and government to adopt consistent safeguards against online scams.
‘Digital trust is not only a cybersecurity concern; it is a business asset,’ said lawyer Kit Belmonte, former legislator and CitizenWatch co-convenor. ‘Customers are more likely to use digital services when they believe their data and transactions are protected. Companies and government should strengthen and embed trust in how they operate, making trust a shared responsibility across the companies and institutions that serve them.’
The call comes as Filipinos increasingly rely on digital services for payments, commerce, education, health care and government transactions. The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the digital economy generated P2.74 trillion in gross value added in 2025, equivalent to 9.8 percent of gross domestic product.
But consumer confidence faces pressure from fraud. TransUnion’s H2 2025 report found that 65 percent of Filipino consumers surveyed had been targeted by fraud through email, online, phone or text, compared with 48 percent globally.
‘When people do not feel safe online, they can lose confidence in the services they depend on,’ Belmonte said. ‘That affects consumers directly, and it can also weaken the willingness of customers to participate in the digital economy.’
Belmonte urged telecom operators, digital platforms, financial institutions and government to coordinate their response and make safeguards consistent across services.
Measures such as blocking scam messages and malicious domains, giving users clear ways to report suspicious activity, and sharing threat information should be part of a broader system of protection, he said.
Telecommunications companies have taken steps that include scam and spam blocking, consumer reporting channels, security warnings and partnerships with financial institutions. Belmonte cited Globe’s test of Silent Network Authentication with GCash as an example of industry efforts to strengthen consumer protection. He said company initiatives can contribute to consumer protection, but should not be treated as a substitute for standards that apply across the industry.
‘Protection should not depend on which operator, bank or platform a person uses,’ Belmonte said. ‘If safeguards vary widely, scammers will look for the weakest link – and consumers will be left to manage risks they cannot control alone.’
The group also called for operators to share responsibility with platforms, banks and government agencies, including through faster information-sharing and support for smaller telecom providers that may not have the same resources to strengthen their defenses.