Benise Balaoing

Foreign technical specialists work as they set up the new UP Printing machine from Miru Systems at the National Printing Office in Quezon City on September 24, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Comelec

Raine Musñgi

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The Philippines has a rare opportunity to become Southeast Asia&#x27;s next major hub for artificial intelligence and cloud computing, but only if it moves fast enough to build the digital infrastructure needed to keep pace with soaring demand.That was the assessment of Carlo Malana, President and CEO of STT GDC Philippines, who said the country possesses three key advantages over regional competitors such as Singapore: available land, a growing talent pool and room to expand power infrastructure.&quot;When you look at the raw materials of data centers, you think about land, power and labor. It&#x27;s very hard to say that those three are cheaper in Singapore than in the Philippines,&quot; Malana said during ANC&#x27;s Business Outlook. Singapore has long been Southeast Asia&#x27;s dominant digital infrastructure hub, hosting many of the world&#x27;s largest cloud providers. But limited land availability and power constraints have slowed the city-state&#x27;s expansion in recent years, prompting hyperscale cloud companies to explore new markets across the region.Malana believes the Philippines is increasingly well-positioned to capture a share of those investments.&quot;Data centers are kind of the infrastructure for the digital economy,&quot; he said. &quot;When you talk about industrial revolutions, you need infrastructure. You needed railroads, roads, airports, submarine cables. Data centers are now that infrastructure for the digital economy.&quot; STT GDC Philippines, a joint venture among Globe Telecom, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres and Ayala Corporation, currently operates six facilities nationwide. Its flagship Fairview campus is planned to reach 124 megawatts across four buildings once fully completed, making it one of the country&#x27;s largest data center developments.The company is deliberately building the campus in phases, saying technology evolves much faster than physical infrastructure.&quot;Buildings have to last 25 to 30 years. We have to make sure we&#x27;re ready to adapt to future needs,&quot; Malana said. Those future needs are arriving quickly.A conventional server rack that previously required just 2 to 3 kilowatts of electricity can now consume 20 to 30 kilowatts, while some of the newest AI servers require more than 100 kilowatts per rack, reflecting the enormous computing requirements of generative artificial intelligence. <div>Power concerns may be overstated</div>As AI fuels demand for larger data centers, electricity supply has become one of the industry&#x27;s biggest concerns. But Malana argued the sector&#x27;s impact on the national grid is often overstated.According to him, all data centers in the Philippines currently account for less than 1 percent of the country&#x27;s electricity consumption, estimating the industry&#x27;s share at only 0.7 percent to 0.8 percent, even if existing facilities operate at full capacity.He also noted that approximately 1,000 megawatts, or 1 gigawatt, of new generating capacity was added to the Philippine grid over the past year, giving operators confidence that future expansion can be supported.&quot;Is there enough power? I think the answer is yes,&quot; Malana said, adding that operators still need to build in areas with strong transmission infrastructure.The executive also highlighted another competitive advantage that many neighboring countries do not have.Unlike much of Southeast Asia, the Philippines allows qualified large consumers to purchase electricity directly from power producers under its competitive electricity market. STT GDC Philippines currently powers its facilities using 100 percent renewable energy, sourced from a mix of geothermal, hydroelectric, solar, and wind generation. <div>Still importing cloud services</div>Despite those advantages, Malana acknowledged that the Philippines has yet to build enough data center capacity to support its own rapidly expanding digital economy.&quot;The first question you have to answer is, do we have enough to satisfy our own demand as a country? Right now, I don&#x27;t think we have enough capacity here,&quot; he said.&quot;Most of our cloud services aren&#x27;t in-country. We&#x27;re essentially importing cloud services from countries like Singapore.&quot; The industry has grown rapidly in recent years.Malana said the country&#x27;s total commercial data center capacity has increased from roughly 30 to 50 megawatts several years ago to approximately 90 to 120 megawatts today. Even so, he believes demand continues to outpace supply.The Philippines is home to nearly 120 million people, one of the world&#x27;s largest and fastest-growing internet populations. According to the 2024 Digital Report by DataReportal, Filipinos spend among the longest hours online globally each day, driving demand for cloud computing, streaming, online banking, e-commerce and artificial intelligence services.&quot;Everyone&#x27;s on their smartphone. Everyone&#x27;s on the internet six or seven hours per day,&quot; Malana said.<div>More data should stay in the Philippines</div>Malana also called for greater attention to data sovereignty as more government services and critical systems migrate to the cloud.He said certain categories of information, particularly government data, should remain inside Philippine-based data centers whenever practical.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2026/2/26/what-does-aws-think-of-data-sovereignty-1815" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">What does AWS think of data sovereignty?</a></div>&quot;There&#x27;s got to be certain pieces of data, especially government data, that make a lot of sense to have in-country,&quot; he said. According to Malana, one of the industry&#x27;s biggest obstacles in previous years was the perception that the Philippines lacked world-class digital infrastructure.&quot;Before, the discussion was, we don&#x27;t have the infrastructure here. Well, that&#x27;s not true anymore because we have companies like STT GDC,&quot; he said.He added that legal and regulatory frameworks surrounding data localization continue to evolve, expressing optimism that policy development will keep pace with infrastructure investments.<div>Execution will separate winners from the hype</div>Billions of dollars have been announced for new data center developments across Southeast Asia, but Malana said execution, not headlines, will ultimately determine who succeeds.He added that sustaining the country&#x27;s momentum will require continued investment not only in infrastructure, but also in supply chains and highly skilled Filipino talent capable of supporting one of the world&#x27;s fastest-growing industries. For Malana, the race to become Southeast Asia&#x27;s next digital infrastructure hub has already begun. The Philippines has many of the fundamentals investors are looking for. The challenge now is turning those advantages into operating facilities before competing markets do.<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MWsNYNs2AJA?&amp;t=2s&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>

The Philippines has a rare opportunity to become Southeast Asia's next major hub for artificial intelligence and cloud computing, but only if it moves fast enough to build the digital infrastructure needed

The Philippines has a rare opportunity to become Southeast Asia's next major hub for artificial intelligence and cloud computing, but only if it moves fast enough to build the digital infrastructure needed

PH can be next Southeast Asia hub for AI data centers, says STT GDC chief

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Sudoku

Word of the Day

Lotto

Horoscope

Business

PH can be next Southeast Asia hub for AI data centers, says STT GDC chief

Raine Musñgi,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 04, 2026 11:38 AM PHT

Read More:

data centers

cloud computing

Philippines

data sovereignty

ABS-CBN Newsletter

Your go-to source for the latest news, entertainment highlights, exclusive interviews, and updates on your favorite Kapamilya stars.

ABS-CBN Newsletter

Your go-to source for the latest news, entertainment highlights, exclusive interviews, and updates on your favorite Kapamilya stars.

Sign Up

I have read and agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy.

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.