The Philippines' bet on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is finally getting a geography. In statements reported on September 7, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda said the Pax Silica site in New Clark City, Tarlac will stick to manufacturing AI hardware, while future data centers will be steered toward coastal provinces such as Batangas and Bataan. A day later, the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) added its own pin to the map, pitching Philippine economic zones as the next destination for global AI data-center investment.
Clark will build AI hardware, not host servers
Aguda said the Clark Advanced Manufacturing Park — the centerpiece of the Philippines' participation in Pax Silica, the US-led initiative on AI and supply-chain security — will produce equipment and components for AI data centers rather than host the facilities themselves. Hyperscaler data centers, the giant server farms run by the world's largest cloud companies, need enormous amounts of power and water. Placing them inland, he said, would strain communities that share those resources.
The position confirms the earlier DTI line that the Clark hub will build AI hardware, not data centers, and it keeps the manufacturing story intact: the government projects the New Clark City hub could generate around ₱180 billion a year and create some 200,000 jobs, with Foxconn moving to anchor the site. Earlier DICT estimates ran as high as 500,000 digital jobs across technical support, AI services, and cloud computing, per GMA News Online.
Why the coast: seawater cooling and desalination
The data centers themselves are being pointed at provinces with direct access to seawater. Batangas and Bataan were named specifically. The logic is cooling: large data centers use water to keep servers from overheating, and coastal sites can run desalination plants that turn seawater into fresh water — for the servers first, and potentially for nearby households as well.
Aguda has argued before that modern facilities are far less wasteful than critics fear. "The machines are water-cooled, but the water isn't wasted. It just recirculates," he told reporters in July, noting that some data centers operate their own desalination plants.
There is also a cost condition attached. Developers who build these coastal data centers are expected to be self-reliant: they must build their own roads, secure their own power, and manage their own water supply, without government funding.
The Palace says no proposals exist yet
The most important caveat came from Malacañang. Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said there are currently no proposals to build AI data centers in the Philippines. The Clark park will make parts for such facilities, she clarified, not host them — and any project that does come will have to comply with government and environmental regulations.
That is a notable check on expectations. The same week the government sketched a data-center map, it also admitted the map has no buildings on it yet.
Ecozones line up for the global AI buildout
The WTCA, for its part, thinks the buildings will come. In a statement carried by LionhearTV, the association positioned Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) ecozones and freeport zones as catalysts for the next wave of data-center investment, naming Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, and Clark as growth corridors.
The pitch rests on a supply squeeze elsewhere. The global data-center market counts roughly 10,000 facilities, with capacity projected to double within five years — yet around 30 US states have passed restrictions on new data-center development over power-grid and environmental concerns, and Singapore is running out of land and energy to offer. "Data centers make up essential infrastructure for artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital commerce," said Scott Wang, WTCA Vice President for Asia Pacific.
The Philippines has over 290 IT parks under PEZA, and the policy door has been opened: President Marcos signed Administrative Order 45 in July 2026, lifting a seven-year moratorium on new IT park applications in Metro Manila. Five developments applied for ecozone status within days. The catch is scale — AI data-center projects need industrial sites that can handle 200 megawatts or more, with secured utilities and fiber connectivity.
Where this leaves the Philippines' AI ambitions
The week's statements draw a cleaner division of labor than the country has had at any point in the Pax Silica debate: Tarlac manufactures, the coast computes, and ecozones do the selling. But the gap between projection and proposal is real. A ₱180-billion-a-year vision currently coexists with zero data-center applications on the table, and the developers who do come will be asked to pay for their own roads, power, and water. For provinces, the signal is clear enough — coastal locations with port access, spare power, and PEZA registration are the ones in the race. The next milestone to watch is the first named locator, not the next projection.
