Consumer advocacy group CitizenWatch Philippines has called on Congress to act on pending Site Blocking Bills that seek to strengthen the Intellectual Property Code.

In a statement, the group said the Senate Bills No. 1708 and 959, and House Bills No. 4702, 4773 and 5944 would reinforce the government's fight against digital piracy while strengthening online consumer protection and supporting the country's growing digital economy.

The bills seek to amend Republic Act No. 8293, or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, by strengthening the enforcement powers of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), including the authority to implement administrative site blocking against online locations found to be infringing intellectual property rights.

All the bills, however, remain pending before their respective committees in the 20th Congress.

CitizenWatch said the proposed legislation builds on the government's existing inter-agency content control system, which enables the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and other regulators to coordinate the blocking of websites involved in illegal online gambling, online scams, unlicensed online lending, the illicit sale of food and medicines, online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC), and other unlawful online activities.

Former Quezon City congressman Kit Belmonte, CitizenWatch Co-Convenor, said the government's experience demonstrates that coordinated site blocking has become an effective regulatory tool for protecting consumers and should now be expanded to combat digital piracy.

"The government has already shown that coordinated site blocking works. It has become an effective consumer protection tool against illegal gambling, financial scams, fake medicines, child exploitation and other online threats,” said Belmonte.

Congress now has before it several measures that will allow us to apply the same proven approach to intellectual property enforcement by equipping IPOPHL with the authority to act more swiftly against piracy websites," he added.

He noted that IPOPHL has made significant progress in strengthening intellectual property enforcement through partnerships with rights holders, internet service providers and other government agencies. However, he said the agency's site-blocking capability remains limited without explicit statutory authority.

"Online piracy is no longer simply a copyright issue. Piracy websites often expose users to malware, identity theft and financial fraud while depriving Filipino creators, innovators and legitimate businesses of the returns from their work. Integrating intellectual property enforcement into the government's existing site-blocking framework will strengthen both consumer protection and the country's digital economy," Belmonte said.

Belmonte also underscored the importance of stronger intellectual property protection as the Philippines pursues an innovation-driven economy.

"The Strategic Investment Priority Plan recognizes research and development, technology and innovation as key drivers of economic growth. In the age of artificial intelligence, intellectual property has become an even more valuable economic asset,” said Belmonte.

Countries that encourage innovation while providing robust intellectual property protection will be better positioned to attract investments, develop high-value industries and create quality jobs. Protecting intellectual property is therefore not only about safeguarding creators' rights—it is also about securing the country's future competitiveness," he said.

CitizenWatch urged lawmakers to prioritize deliberations on the pending measures, saying the proposed amendments would modernize the country's intellectual property regime, strengthen online consumer protection, support the creative economy, and reinforce the Philippines' ambition to become a more competitive innovation-driven digital economy.