TRADE Secretary Cristina Roque said her department will soon endorse to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the lifting of Administrative Order (AO) 18 that had prevented the opening of new ecozones in Metro Manila.
AO 18, signed in 2019 by then-president Rodrigo Duterte, aimed to redirect investments to the provinces and barred PEZA from accepting new ecozone applications in the National Capital Region.
The matter has been discussed in a meeting with PEZA Director General Tereso Panga, Roque told reporters over the weekend.
Panga said the endorsement would clear the way for pending projects in Manila, Arca South in Taguig, and Makati.
Lifting the order would also expand options for information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) locators currently constrained by the limited number of PEZA-accredited parks and centers in the capital, and open up energy-efficient buildings to new investors.
The move comes as property consultancy Colliers flagged that the restrictions are squeezing PEZA-registered firms that prefer established central business districts, where compliant office space is running short.
Metro Manila remains the primary gateway for foreign entrants, with about 70 percent of IT-BPM transactions recorded in the capital in the first quarter of 2026, Colliers said, with the remainder concentrated largely in Iloilo and Cebu.
PEZA currently hosts more than 1,600 companies in the IT-BPM sector.
