MANILA - Foreign companies have expressed interest in the Philippines' plan to build a national broadband network, a Cabinet official said Wednesday.

The firms are from China, Europe, Israel, Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States, said Information and Communications Technology Secretary Rodolfo Salalima said.

President Rodrigo Duterte approved the national broadband project on Monday, delivering on a campaign promise to improve internet service in the country.

Salalima said the government would ensure safeguards on data privacy.

"I have instructed my people that we have to make our network safe because an essential component of having a very good network is it being safe and regardless of country, I will emphasize safety first because in international relations, you will never know what will happen," he said in an interview with ANC's Headstart.

"It is very important that even as we will have one digitized network with common bases, we have to protect the privacies of all these data," he added.

The Philippines has among the slowest internet connections in the world, next only to war-torn Afghanistan.

Plans to set up a nationwide broadband infrastructure fell through under former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's term due to allegations Manila's deal with China's ZTE Corp was overpriced.