Quezon city: The Philippine government on Tuesday launched the final draft of the Philippines AI+ Infrastructure Masterplan (PAIIM) 2026-2033, a USD34.4 billion roadmap that seeks to position the country as a regional hub for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The masterplan was presented during its launch at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria in Quezon City.
According to Philippines News Agency, while the PAIIM was first introduced earlier this year, Tuesday's event marked the release of its finalized version, laying out the government's full strategy for AI infrastructure development through 2033. Department of Information and Communications Technology's National ICT Planning, Policy and Standards Bureau Officer-in-Charge Director Gemma Baysic said the Philippines aims to be more than a consumer of AI technology. "[The Philippines aims] to build, host, power, and support the AI ecosystem of the future," Baysic said.
Under the masterplan, the country's AI data center capacity is set to expand 30-fold, from a baseline of 50 megawatts (MW) to 1.5 gigawatts (GW) by 2033, with an initial deployment of roughly 400 MW to be completed by 2030 under the plan's first phase. Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Maria Francesca Del Rosario said the country is expected to power around 152,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) for its planned AI industry, using the figure as a proxy for estimating computing capacity and power demand.
Del Rosario noted that the DOE will be responsible for producing this additional power without pulling electricity away from Filipino households. She added that immediate power needs will be met using natural gas plants, with a target of sourcing 40 percent of total power for AI infrastructure from renewable sources such as solar and geothermal by 2033. The DOE will also explore nuclear power as a long-term option under Republic Act 12305, or the Philippine National Nuclear Energy Safety Act (PhilAtom Act).
Baysic said the Philippines already has a strong AI policy foundation, placing it second among ASEAN countries in an AI benchmark, on par with Singapore and just behind Thailand. She explained that the development of AI infrastructure will be paired with six mutually supporting pillars: connectivity infrastructure; AI compute and data centers; sustainable energy and water sourcing; AI workforce development; policy and regulation; and demand creation and adoption.
She identified four corridors where the country's AI industry will be built: the Clark-Bataan corridor as the primary anchor, the Batangas-Aurora corridor as a strategic gateway, Subic and Calabarzon as supporting hubs, and Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and Cagayan de Oro as future regional nodes. Of the total USD34.4 billion investment required to implement the masterplan, USD13.5 billion, or 39 percent, is expected to come from public sources, while USD21 billion, or 61 percent, is expected from private investors.
By 2033, the masterplan projects the initiative will generate more than 500,000 AI-related jobs and an additional 175,000 jobs from AI infrastructure projects, while raising national GDP by 10 to 12 percent through AI-driven productivity gains and new digital services. To support this growth, the masterplan includes reskilling programs targeting 1.3 million members of the country's information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) workforce for AI-enabled services, alongside the establishment of a fully operational national AI governance and trusted data framework by the end of the plan period.
The masterplan cited the country's strategic geographic location, its backbone of 21 submarine cables, over 95 percent mobile coverage, and its 1.3-million-strong IT-BPM workforce as key advantages that position the Philippines as a competitive site for AI infrastructure investment. It also noted that the Philippines currently hosts only one AI-oriented data center facility, with an installed capacity of around 50 MW, underscoring the scale of expansion needed to meet projected demand.
