Why the freeze mattered
The original moratorium, AO No. 18, was issued in 2019, according to GMA News, and was designed to push IT-BPM growth toward provincial hubs such as Clark, Cebu, Iloilo, and Davao. Growth in those hubs accelerated in the years that followed.
But it also left Metro Manila, which the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) describes as the country’s largest concentration of digital talent and business infrastructure, critically short of incentivized office space even as demand continued to grow.
The Philippine IT-BPM sector generated $40 billion in revenue and employed 1.9 million Filipinos as of the end of 2025, according to the Inquirer’s coverage of the order. AO 45 lifts the freeze specifically for IT parks and centers while leaving the moratorium on other zone types and the broader regional development push intact.
A shift toward GCCs
GCCs—the in-house offshore units multinationals run for finance, tech, healthcare, and professional services—have overtaken traditional BPO firms as the top source of office demand, even as overall take-up fell 32% year-on-year in the first half of 2026.
GCCs tend to need larger, higher-spec, PEZA-accredited floors, precisely the type of space that had become scarce in Makati, BGC, and Ortigas. The IBPAP said the order restores a location option for IT-BPM firms and gives investors more flexibility without altering the country’s regional growth strategy.
Developers are already moving. Five buildings, including Ayala Land’s Arca South 1 in Taguig and the Yuchengco Centre in Makati, have filed PEZA applications under the new order, even as the PEZA Board finalizes implementing guidelines. PEZA noted that 44% of existing IT office space in Metro Manila is aging. Director General Tereso Panga called the order a major policy breakthrough for competing in the next wave of IT-BPM and GCC investment.
Impact on BPO clients and providers
The lifted freeze is a direct win for BPO and GCC occupiers competing for space in Metro Manila, where accredited Grade A inventory had all but dried up. Clients and providers evaluating the Philippines against India, Vietnam, or Malaysia have a stronger argument for staying, since a fresh PEZA-accredited supply removes a real constraint on expansion timelines and access to incentives.
Providers with a footprint in the Philippines should watch the PEZA accreditation queue closely, as early movers into eligible buildings will have the pick of new capacity before it tightens again. For landlords, the priority is confirming eligibility and filing early. For occupiers who had settled for non-accredited space or shelved Metro Manila expansion, the order restores leverage worth revisiting now, before the best buildings are claimed.
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Cordero, T. (2026, July 28). Marcos lifts Duterte ban on new economic zones in NCR —DTI. GMA News. Retrieved from https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/economy/996405/marcos-lifts-duterte-ban-on-new-economic-zones-in-ncr-dti/story/
Fronda-Ledonio, L. (2026, August 8). AO No. 45: What developers, occupiers, and investors need to know. Inquirer. Retrieved from https://business.inquirer.net/604690/ao-no-45-what-developers-occupiers-and-investors-need-to-know
