Project AGAP.AI: The Philippines Is Teaching AI Literacy to Nearly 800,000 Filipinos — And Counting

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While the AI-regulation debate fills the headlines, one government program has quietly taught nearly 800,000 Filipinos how to actually use AI — no bill required.

The Weekly Headline: Project AGAP.AI: The Philippines Is Teaching AI Literacy to Nearly 800,000 Filipinos — And Counting

In January 2026, the Department of Education launched Project AGAP.AI — “Accelerating Governance and Adaptive Pedagogy through Artificial Intelligence” — the country’s first nationwide program for responsible AI integration in basic education. Funded by the ASEAN Foundation and powered by Google.org, and built with MIT’s Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education initiative and Day of AI, the goal was ambitious: train 1.5 million students, teachers, and parents by the end of the year.

A Number Worth Pausing On

Under the program’s training arm, AI Ready ASEAN Philippines, roughly 796,000 Filipinos have already completed AI literacy training — more than half of the 1.5 million target, split across 1.05 million learners, 300,000 teachers, and 150,000 parents. That’s a scale most corporate training programs can only dream of, delivered through public schools.

What’s Actually Being Taught

This isn’t about turning ten-year-olds into prompt engineers. DepEd’s February 2026 guidelines cover basic AI concepts, ethical use, data privacy, and how to spot misinformation, alongside the country’s first AI tool registry and a risk classification system so schools know which tools are actually vetted before adopting them. In-service teacher training modules on AI began rolling out in the second quarter of 2026, aimed at helping teachers use AI in daily lesson planning rather than just talk about it in a seminar.

Tools Already in Classrooms

The program isn’t staying theoretical. Schools have started using tools like Khan Academy’s Khanmigo, Canva’s AI features, and Microsoft Copilot for lesson planning and content creation. One homegrown tool, Sigla, developed through the Education Center for AI Research at SEAMEO INNOTECH, measures student height, weight, and BMI with 98–99% accuracy to strengthen school feeding programs — a small, unglamorous example of AI solving a very local, very practical problem.

AI isn’t coming. It’s here.

The gap between “the Philippines is debating AI law” and “Filipino teachers are already using AI tools in class” is the real story here. Literacy has to come before regulation can mean anything to the people it’s meant to protect — and that’s the same principle behind AI Talks @ Younifest, where Doc Ligot’s upcoming webinars aim to give everyday Filipinos, not just legislators, a working understanding of what AI can and can’t do. More details at https://aitalks.younifest.com.

Further Reading

About Doc Ligot:

Dominic “Doc” Ligot is one of the leading voices in AI in the Philippines. Doc has been extensively cited in local and global media outlets including The Economist, South China Morning Post, Washington Post, and Agence France Presse. His award-winning work has been recognized and published by prestigious organizations such as NASA, Data.org, Digital Public Goods Alliance, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and UNICEF.

If you need guidance or training in maximizing AI for your career or business, reach out to Doc via https://docligot.com.

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