Philippines used to be one of the freest countries in Southeast Asia. Tragically, the situation has significantly worsened since President Duterte took helm of the country.
In recent times, press, journalism, and freedom of speech has suffered greatly in the country as critical voices face the threat of being charged for libel. There are hardly any legal protections for journalists and activists, and governmental high-handedness manipulates content on social media and news websites in their favor.
With the strengthening dictatorship in the country, it is imperative for people in Philippines to take extra precautions when using the internet. The use of VPN services is one of the easiest ways you can establish a wall of privacy online and shelter yourself from governmental invasion of privacy and thus suppression of voices.
This article will focus on free VPN service to use in Philippines which are legitimate and trustworthy for use.
Best Free VPNs for Philippines in a Glimpse
- PureVPN – Equipped with 6500+ servers in 140+ countries including 6 in Philippines, Manila. Refundable within 31-days of purchase.
- Windscribe – Privacy-focused features for Filipino users that require better online protection from surveillance. The free version has a data cap of 10 GB/month.
- ProtonVPN – No data caps whatsoever and entirely free of cost. Works with Netflix as well and offers decent security for Philippines users seeking stronger privacy.
- Hide.Me – Impressive range of features suitable for privacy-conscious Filipinos. Offers bandwidth limit of 10 GB/month.
- Speedify – Not ideal for privacy, but offers decent performance for bypassing restricted content on mobile devices.
- TunnelBear – Good for security and privacy, but suffers from a small bandwidth limit of 500 MB/month.
- SecurityKISS – A no-frills VPN service that offers basic protection.
Top 7 Free VPN for Philippines
Here’s a list of the best free VPNs that offer strong privacy for Filipinos free of cost:
1. PureVPN – Best Free VPN with Philippines Server
PureVPN is one of the best VPNs you can use in Philippines free for 31 days. It offers 6 servers within Philippines, Manila in its total network of 6500+ servers in 140+ countries.
However, PureVPN is not totally free to be precise. It offers a 31-day money-back guarantee that you can use as a free service for the whole month. If you demand a refund during that time, it would be as if you used the VPN with all its complete benefits free of cost during this period.
You won’t be able to demand a refund after the first month, so it will cost $3.33/mo for 5-years; still pretty cheap and within the budget of most users looking for a VPN for free.
In terms of features PureVPN works with most streaming apps including US Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, and others. So, if you’re in Philippines and want to access these streaming services, you can count on PureVPN’s vast server network.
It also comes with advanced features like split-tunneling and kill switch, along with the strong AES-256 encryption. The no-logging policy further makes PureVPN extremely powerful for Filipinos that want to improve their privacy.
You can learn more about this service in our PureVPN review.
- Works with US Netflix
- Servers in Philippines
- 10 multi-logins
- Not indefinitely free
2. Windscribe – Free Privacy Protection for Filipinos
Windscribe is a highly trusted available for free, but it has no Philippines servers. In fact, this is the case with almost all VPNs that are available totally free of cost, as most such providers have a small server network with servers in only a few major countries.
Windsribe’s network includes 10 servers with reasonably fast speeds. So, if you’re in Philippines, you can use these offshore server locations to access content that may be unavailable through your local ISP for any reason.
On the security and privacy front, it is perfectly capable of ensuring the security of confidential user information and the protection of your privacy if you feel uncomfortable voicing your opinions in Philippines.
Windscribe is available on all major devices and platforms including Windows, mac OS, Linux, iOS, and Android. The AES-256 bit encryption does well to keep your data beyond the reach of interceptors trying to access it.
The only significant issue with this VPN is that it has a 10GB/month bandwidth limit. In spite of this, it is a good freebie to use in Philippines.
You can learn more about this service in our Windscribe VPN review.
- 10 server locations
- AES-256 encryption
- OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec, PPTP, and IKEv2 tunneling protocols
- Speed can be improved
3. ProtonVPN – Completely Free VPN in Philippines
ProtonVPN offers unlimited bandwidth for free, though it has no Philippines servers. Nonetheless, it is a good choice for those users that want access to censored social media content or other unavailable websites within Philippines.
There are 3 available servers in ProtonVPN’s free plan: Netherlands, US, and Japan. The provider has a satisfactory logging policy and uses strong AES-256 encryption to ensure the protection of users from any unauthorized outside interference. In fact, it is one of the very few VPN services that works with Netflix.
Although the speeds are capped in the free version so you can’t expect high quality streams, but for a free service that works indefinitely, there’s not much to complain.
You can learn more about this service in our ProtonVPN review.
- AES-256 encryption
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Good privacy policy
- Only 3 server locations available in the free version
4. Hide.Me – Feature-Rich Free VPN for Filipinos
Hide.Me is an impressive VPN provider that supports torrenting. It ensures a good balance between speed and security, making use of advanced protocols for encryption and tunneling.
There are 5 servers in this VPN’s network: Singapore, Canada, Netherlands, US East and US West. As you can see, there are no nearby servers to Philippines, which might lead to slower speeds on your end.
Nonetheless, Hide.Me is quite impressive for users that want stronger security. it guarantees zero-logging of important user information such as IP address or information pertaining to online activities.
It enforces a 10 GB/month bandwidth limit, which is quite generous considering that free providers offer much smaller data caps.
It is a trustworthy service that any Filipino can take advantage of if they want to enhance the level of the privacy available to them.
If you also want to download a free vpn for Ubuntu, then Hide.Me is the one.
You can learn more about this VPN in our Hide.Me review.
- Guarantees high security
- Stable performance
- Excellent usability
- 2GB/month bandwidth limit
5. Speedify – Fast Free VPN App
Speedify is a VPN that Filipinos on high speed requirements can enjoy. It offers 2 GB of bandwidth limit per month. The VPN performs quite well on mobile devices with fast and smooth functionality.
However, the privacy policy of the provider isn’t exactly ideal as it keeps some logs relating to users, including their IP address.
Nonetheless, if you are traveling to or are a resident in Philippines and need a high speed VPN for performing tasks that do not require much bandwidth such as checking emails, then Speedify is the service you need.
For more information, see this Speedify review.
- Fast speeds
- Solid encryption
- Keeps logs of IP address
6. TunnelBear – Excellent Interface in Free App
TunnelBear is a Canada-based VPN provider that can provide impressive security for online users in Philippines.
It is fairly simple to use; you will seldom need to do more than press a click in order to connect to a server from one of 20+ locations available for free. However, this does not include Philippines.
TunnelBear is a good choice for Philippines users that have very basic and minimal VPN usage requirements because of its low bandwidth limit (500MB/month, expandable to 1.5GB/month if you tweet about it), and the lack of support for torrents.
For more information, see this TunnelBear review.
- User-friendly privacy policy
- 20+ server locations
- Robust encryption
- Low bandwidth allowance
7. SecurityKISS – Decent Free Solution
SecurityKISS is a great privacy tool for citizens in Philippines needing online anonymity. This service provider values the anonymity of the users and allows them a free download of the service without even first signing up.
SecurityKISS offers OpenVPN protocols for good security and speed. For travelers visiting Philippines, SecurityKISS is a good option for maintaining your anonymity on the cyberspace.
It is also good for bypassing geo-restrictions that might be holding you back from accessing certain sites. The provider offers 300MB/day bandwidth limit on the free version.
For more information, see this SecurityKISS review.
- Maintain user anonymity
- Consistent speeds
- Secure protocols
- Only 300MB/day limit
Why Do You Need a Free VPN in Philippines?
The decline of online freedom and the rise of censorship with content manipulation started when with the passing of the Cybercrime Act 2012. This bill penalizes libel on the Internet for up to 12 years in jail. As such, this has led to a decline in online activism owing to the criminalization of libel, since the law can always be abused to target otherwise innocent people.
Since then, there has been a decline in online activism, probably because users fear they might be deemed guilty of libel for voicing critical views regarding government officials or other authorities.
Recently, the Anti-terrorism Bill was passed which defines terrorism so loosely that it can virtually be applied to bully and intimidate any person in the Philippines that the government has a beef against. With these developments, self-censorship will only increase and freedom of speech, especially from sources critical of Duterte’s government will further dwindle.
The best VPN for Philippines can hide the identity of a user by routing their traffic through a secure and private tunnel. If you’re strapped for cash, you can opt for high-caliber yet affordable VPN service or totally free ones as mentioned above.
With a VPN, authorities will have a hard time trying to identify users online, giving Filipinos greater security to post content online without fearing untoward repercussions.
An added benefit of VPN services is that they allow access geo-restricted websites in Philippines by changing your apparent location to any other country. For instance, if you are traveling to Philippines from the United States, you might be unable to access the online banking services of your local bank from the US. While we do encourage our readers to opt for premium VPN for US in this case, the free VPN might just work as well.
How to Access US Netflix from Philippines with Free VPN?
Netflix has to follow copyright laws and agreements which differ in every region. This is why there are differences between the Netflix of one country and the Netflix in another country in terms of available titles.
In fact, some countries have a much larger catalog of shows and movies available on Netflix than others. US Netflix holds the largest number of titles out of all regions, but you cannot access it outside USA.
The good thing is, you can access American Netflix in Philippines in a very simple way:
- Download and install a Free Netflix VPN on your device
- Launch the VPN app and connect to a US server
- Now open Netflix and gain access to the largest catalog of shows online!
This is because free services are bound by bandwidth limitations and streaming is no fun if it has an upper limit.
Moreover, premium services have the required server infrastructure to support streaming services as easily as possible.
FAQs
PureVPN is the only free VPN that has servers in the Philippines.
No, using a VPN is not illegal in the Philippines. Due to strong surveillance and censorship in the country, users in the Philippines should use a VPN to protect their online privacy.
You can use one of the above-mentioned free VPNs in Phillipines, but dont expect the same speeds and security that are offered by a paid VPN. Most free VPNs offer limited servers that are contested by users thus offering extremely slow speeds. This is not the case with paid VPNs that offer you access to thousands of servers in different locations. You can also get a dedicated IP address that is for your use only.
Additionally, most free VPNs are known for inserting trackers in their systems and logging user data to sell it to third-party advertisers. Therefore, paid, premium VPNs are the best option because they offer high security and encryption protocols. PureVPN is a great option because it offers a free trial, so you can test the service free of cost and cancel anytime.
Conclusion
Philippines does not come anywhere close to countries like North Korea and China when it comes to censorship and lack of freedom of expression online.
Nonetheless, with stricter legislation being introduced in the country, the situation could very well change for the worse with greater censorship and is already declining worryingly fast. In these state of affairs, citizens should take adequate protections for their own online safety and at the very least, opt for some free of charge solutions like the VPN providers listed above.
Are you experiencing any privacy or censorship related problems in Philippines? We’d love to hear what you have to say. Please voice your thoughts in the comment section below.
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