Two hyperscale cloud companies based in the United States are conducting due diligence on sites in Luzon, each weighing an initial capacity of roughly 200 megawatts to be built out over five years, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said this week.
DICT Secretary Henry Aguda told reporters on the sidelines of the September 8 launch of the Philippine Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Master Plan (PAIIM) 2026-2033 that the two companies, which he declined to name, have so far examined only the Bataan-Clark and Batangas-Aurora corridors.
“It’s mostly in Luzon,” Aguda said, adding that the two firms have looked at those two corridors alone. He said each is initially considering roughly 200 MW, clarifying that the capacity would be built “over a period of five years – it’s not in one go.”
PAIIM designates the Clark-Bataan corridor as the primary anchor for AI data center development, with Batangas-Aurora and Subic-Calabarzon serving as supporting hubs. Cebu-Iloilo and Davao are listed as future regional nodes, meaning Visayas and Mindanao sites are not yet in play for this round of hyperscaler evaluation.
Aguda said the masterplan is designed to compress a site-selection process that normally takes hyperscalers six to nine months, during which technical teams arrive in the country and independently research power, land, and other requirements. With PAIIM in place, much of that groundwork is already mapped along designated corridors, leaving companies to select from vetted options rather than starting from scratch. A hyperscaler typically evaluates three locations when entering a new country, he added.
He recalled that other hyperscalers had struggled to obtain the information they needed over the past year. That information, he said, is now consolidated within the masterplan.
Asked whether the two companies could formally enter the Philippine market next year, Aguda said: “Fingers crossed. At least it accelerates their ability to decide right away on whether they’ll establish here or not.”
Aguda clarified that the corridors identified in PAIIM are not single sites but broader zones covering multiple possible locations, giving companies flexibility in choosing where within a corridor to build.
The DICT has not disclosed the identities of the two hyperscalers or a timeline for a final investment decision.
