MANILA, Philippines — Moving to remove a long-standing regulatory hurdle for the country’s booming technology and corporate real estate sectors, top economic managers have joined forces to overhaul urban investment policy.Trade Secretary Cristina Roque and Finance Secretary Frederick Go have officially approved and co-endorsed a proposal to lift the moratorium on new ecozone applications in Metro Manila.
The joint recommendation is now sitting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for final executive approval, which would require a new administrative order to officially supersede the old restrictions.
The restriction dates back to Administrative Order (AO) No. 18, issued in 2019 by former President Rodrigo Duterte, which froze the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) from designating new IT parks and ecozones in the capital. While the initial policy was engineered to force investments out into under-developed rural provinces, data from leading property consultancies like Colliers Philippines highlights a clear mismatch between the old restriction and actual market behavior:
[ REAL ESTATE & TRANSACTION METRICS ]
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[ SUSTAINED METRO DEMAND ] [ GEOGRAPHIC SUPPLY MISMATCH ]
• **70% Corporate Clustering:** During the first quarter of 2026, • **33% Prime CBD Availability:** While Metro Manila technically
approximately **70 percent** of all IT-BPM office transactions • has remaining PEZA space, only about one-third of it sits within
remained stubbornly clustered inside Metro Manila. • the prime Central Business Districts (CBDs) where global firms
• **Uneven Provincial Growth:** The remaining 30 percent of transactions• actually want to operate.
that did move to the provinces didn't spread evenly—they heavily • **Competitive Rebound:** Reopening applications allows the capital
concentrated in existing regional hubs like Cebu and Iloilo. • to match modern, green workspaces with multinational needs.
PEZA Director General Tereso Panga clarified the exact boundaries of the proposed policy reversal. Lifting the ban does not mean developers themselves will get a wave of new tax breaks for existing infrastructure; instead, it allows the physical buildings to be formally certified so that incoming locators and tenants can qualify for PEZA’s lucrative fiscal and non-fiscal incentive packages.
Several major corporate land developments are already lined up in the regulatory pipeline to apply for ecozone status the moment the order is officially signed:
[ THE METRO MANILA ECOZONE PIPELINE ]
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[ Arca South ] ──► Ayala Land's sprawling mixed-use commercial estate in Taguig City, poised to capture
significant multinational locator interest.
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[ Bridgetowne ] ──► Robinsons Land's major destination district straddling Pasig City and Quezon City,
slated for immediate corporate expansion.
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[ Makati Innovation ]──► A highly anticipated, Yuchengco-backed innovation hub in Makati City, currently being treated
as the policy's official administrative "test case."
The push to repeal AO 18 comes at a critical time as the Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) sector remains a premier engine of the Philippine macroeconomy. Because global corporations must physically operate out of PEZA-accredited facilities to secure corporate tax exemptions and streamlined customs procedures, the years-long freeze on new capital city designations has slowly constrained the pipeline of premium, energy-efficient offices.
By systematically opening up top-tier developments in Manila’s primary business hubs, the DTI and DOF aim to protect the country’s competitive advantage against rival Southeast Asian hubs. This shift ensures that high-value digital operations, global captive centers, and engineering tech teams can seamlessly establish a footprint in the country’s most connected talent corridors.
